A computer simulation study of cell population in a fuzzy interaction model for mutating HIV

A fuzzy set of 10 interactions for macrophages, helper cells, cytotoxic cells, and virion is introduced to study their population dynamics in an immune response relevant to HIV. Viral mutation is considered and cellular automata are used for local interactions. In absence of mutation, after an initial incubation period (ti) in which the number of helper cells (NH) becomes comparable to viral population (NV), the immune system recovers as NH grows larger than NV in the long time, t>ti. Increasing the mutation rate (pmut) enhances the viral growth and supresses the growth of host cells. Above a certain value of pmut, the helper cells population depletes leading to AIDS as NV⪢NH.