A mathematical model of murine macrophage infected with Leishmania sp

Infection by Leishmania can cause diseases ranging from self-healing cutaneous to visceral dissemination that can lead to death if untreated. In order to explore the early phase of the infection and the role of macrophages, we implement a system of differential equations involving the major players in the innate immune response to leishmaniasis (i.e., parasites in the intracellular and free form, infected and uninfected macrophages, and NO/ROS). The model was adjusted and validated using data from C57BL/6, KO and SCID mice published in the literature. The key findings were the surprisingly more active macrophages in the mice knockouts for IL-12 and IFN-g. This result can be interpreted as an indication of an M2b polarization of the macrophages in these mice. Sensitivity Analysis shows that NO/ROS secretion rate is more important to Leishmania control then the mechanisms of killing intracellular parasites. This model is a useful tool for comprehending the infection and treatments. Index Terms-leishmaniasis, cutaneous, innate-immune-response, macrophages, ODE