Modeling Chagas parasitemy during GM1 treatment

GUSTAVO J. SIBONA; C. A. CONDAT; S. COSSI ISASI

Genova

Conferencia; 23st IUPAP Int. Conf. on Statistical Physics (STATPHYS 23).; 2007

STATPHYS

Experiments in mice exhibit the perplexing result that small doses of the drug GM1 reduce the number of T. cruzi parasites during the acute stage of Chagas’ infection, while larger doses increase their number, leading to the subject’s death. Although endemic in large regions of Latin America, this disease has attracted relatively little attention from scientists outside the medical sciences. We have modeled the action of GM1 using a model for the competitive interaction between T. cruzi and the immune system. We consider separately the intra and extracellular parasite phases, which allows us to describe the interaction of GM1 with parasites and cells. We will present a study of the dynamics of the relevant populations under the action of the drug, obtaining the corresponding phase diagrams. The model predictions reproduce the extant data on the evolution of the acute phase of Chagas disease, enabling us to predict the optimal GM1 dose.