A low dimensional dynamical model of the initial pulmonary innate response to infection.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the onset and progression of pulmonary infections we present and analyze a low dimensional, phenomenological model of infection and the innate immune response in the lungs. Because pulmonary innate immunity has features unique to itself, general mathematical models of the immune system may not be appropriate. The differential equations model that we propose is based on current knowledge of the biology of pulmonary innate immunity and accurately reproduces known features of the initial phase of the dynamics of pulmonary innate system as exhibited in recent experiments. Further, we propose to use the model as a starting point for interrogation with clinical data from a new noninvasive technique for sampling alveolar lining fluid.