Dynamics and analysis of a model for chronic hepatitis B infection

Abstract

We examine a mathematical model for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, which incorporates the dynamics of infected hepatocytes, the intracellular HBV DNA-containing capsids and the virions. We analyze the stability of the uninfected and infected steady states and obtain the basic reproduction number R₀ in terms of the model parameters. If R₀ ≤ 1 then the uninfected steady state is stable and the patient will be cleared of infection. On the other hand, if R₀ > 1 then the infected steady state is stable and the infection persists. The model is then modified to incorporate a delay in the production of intracellular HBV DNA-containing capsids from infected hepatocytes. It is shown that this delay does not affect the local stability of the system. Finally, the results obtained are numerically illustrated for various scenarios.

Keywords:

• Hepatitis B
• Stability Analysis
• Delay
• Numerical Simulation