Copyright © 2006 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a pleiotropic thrombopoietic cytokine and immune modulator, clinically approved for alleviation of chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia in non-myeloid malignancies. IL-11 therapy exerts fluid accumulation-associated adverse effects, complicating its administration and limiting its use. Implementation of standard biomathematical techniques to assess these effects is not possible, due to incomplete knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. This study investigates IL-11-induced blood volume expansion (BVE) by a new mathematical modelling methodology. Alternative models for BVE following IL-11 therapy were constructed, calibrated with clinical information and simulated in a number of treatment scenarios. The models demonstrated high compliance and were equally capable of reliably predicting BVE in a wide range of treatments, provided sufficient data. Model simulations indicate that frequent and low dose IL-11 regimens are favored for ensuring minimal fluid retention, upon the current IL-11 therapy.