Mathematical Modeling of Lesion Pattern Formation in Dendritic Keratitis

TL;DR

This paper presents a mathematical model explaining how cytokine levels influence lesion patterns in dendritic keratitis, reproducing various lesion morphologies and enhancing understanding of herpetic keratitis.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel mathematical model that elucidates lesion pattern formation mechanisms in dendritic keratitis based on cytokine dynamics.

Findings

Increased cytokine production induces dendritic patterns with terminal bulbs.

Reduced cytokine levels lead to geographic lesion patterns.

External cytokine secretion reproduces tapered lesions in non-HSV keratitis.

Abstract

Dendritic keratitis is a form of eye infection caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). The virus spreads via direct cell-to-cell infection among corneal epithelial cells. This leads to the formation of dendritic lesions characterized by terminal bulbs at their tips. Under immunosuppression, the condition may progress to geographic keratitis, which is a map-shaped lesion with dendritic tails. The mechanism of this pattern formation remains to be elucidated. In this study, we propose a mathematical model to elucidate the mechanisms of lesion pattern formation in dendritic keratitis. Our model shows that increased production of infection-suppressive cytokines induces dendritic patterns with terminal bulbs, whereas reduced cytokine levels lead to geographic patterns. Furthermore, altering the spatial distribution of cytokine production can reproduce dendritic tails. By including external cytokine secretion, we could reproduce tapered lesions observed in non-HSV keratitis. By clarifying the mechanisms behind terminal bulb formation and reproducing atypical lesion morphologies, our findings enhance the understanding of herpetic keratitis and highlight the utility of mathematical modeling in ophthalmology.