On the dynamics of radially symmetric granulomas

A granuloma is a collection of macrophages that contains bacteria or other foreign substances that the body's immune response is unable to eliminate. In this paper we present a simple mathematical model of radially symmetric granuloma dynamics. The model consists of a coupled system of two semi-linear parabolic equations for the macrophage density, and the bacterial density. The boundary of the granuloma is free. This simple framework makes it possible to conduct a mathematical analysis of the. system dynamics. In particular, we show that the model system has a unique solution, and that, depending on the biological parameters; the bacterial load either disappears over time or persists. We use numerical methods to establish the existence of stationary solutions and examine how a stationary solution changes with the reproductive rate of the bacteria. These simulations show that the structure of the granuloma breaks down as the reproductive rate of the bacteria increases. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.