A Model of the Immune Response to Disease

Abstract

We shall now take a look at a simple model of the immune response. The immune system is a complex system involving several layers of defense for an organism against external potentially harmful invasions. We shall look specifically at the humoral response of the acquired immune system. In this case the signals are concentrations of antigens and antibodies. Although it is not common to use systems theory in the study of infectious disease, the application of system modeling can be useful to visualize and understand the processes of infection and the immune response. A linear system model is inaccurate in quantitatively describing the immune response, but it serves very well as a first approximation to understanding infection and disease. It is, in fact, rather appealing to regard acute and chronic disease as states of stable immune response and unstable response respectively to infection.