Mathematical analysis of an HIV latent infection model including both virus-to-cell infection and cell-to-cell transmission

Abstract

HIV can infect cells via virus-to-cell infection or cell-to-cell viral transmission. These two infection modes may occur in a synergistic way and facilitate viral spread within an infected individual. In this paper, we developed an HIV latent infection model including both modes of transmission and time delays between viral entry and integration or viral production. We analysed the model by defining the basic reproductive number, showing the existence, positivity and boundedness of the solution, and proving the local and global stability of the infection-free and infected steady states. Numerical simulations have been performed to illustrate the theoretical results and evaluate the effects of time delays and fractions of infection leading to latency on the virus dynamics. The estimates of the relative contributions to the HIV latent reservoir and the virus population from the two modes of transmission have also been provided.