Quantification of Healthy Red Blood Cell Removal and Preferential Invasion of Reticulocytes in Macaca mulatta during Plasmodium cynomolgi Infection

Abstract

We derived an ordinary differential equation model to capture the disease dynamics during blood-stage malaria. The model was directly derived from an earlier age-structured partial differential equation model. The original model was simplified due to experimental constraints. Here we calibrated the simplified model with experimental data using a multiple objective genetic algorithm. Through the calibration process, we quantified the removal of healthy red blood cells and the the preferential infection of reticulocytes during \textit{Plamodium cynomolgi} infection of \textit{Macaca mulatta}. The calibration of our model also revealed the existence of host erythropoietic response prior to blood stage infection.