Mathematics and Medicine Meet

At Oakland University mathematics and medicine meet. Assistant Professor and CBR member Libin Rong, of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, uses mathematical modeling to understand viral infections. His latest paper, “A Perspective on Modelling Hepatitis C Virus Infection” (Volume 17, Pages 825-833), appeared in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Viral Hepatitus. Below is the introduction of his paper, with citations removed.

“Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has a prevalence of about 3% worldwide. It is the most common cause of liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, end stage liver failure, liver transplantation and eventually liver failure-related death around the world. Achieving a long-term sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable HCV RNA in serum 24 weeks after the end of treatment, is the most effective way to prevent disease progression. Currently, treatment outcome with pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) is correlated with HCV genotype and SVR is only achieved in approximately 50% of HCV genotype 1 patients, with no effective alternative treatment for nonresponders.

Mathematical modelling of HCV dynamics … has played an important role in highlighting the significance of obtaining frequent viral load measurements during treatment and has provided efficient tools for early prediction of SVR for IFN-based therapies. Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) constitute a new stage in HCV therapy… Here, we review viral kinetic issues related to both IFN-based and DAA-based therapies. Lastly, we discuss how the development of in vitro systems that better characterize the intracellular virus lifecycle could allow for more comprehensive HCV modelling approaches.”

Rong’s research is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health