Mathematical models of thyroid follicle functioning

Four mathematical models of thyroid follicle functioning are suggested. Two models view the follicle as a point system, and the other two – as a system with distributed parameters. The main biochemical reactions — iodine intake in the follicle and the formation of thyroglobulin and hormone thyroxine — are taken into consideration. The models are formed on the principle of pair interactions and represent a Cauchy problem for a system of ordinary differential equations or a boundary value problem for a system of nonlinear differential equations in partial derivatives. The stability analysis of stationary points is performed in the point models, and in the diffusion models — the robustness of the trivial solution. A numerical algorithm for solving a nonlinear boundary value problems is suggested. Based on the numerical experiments, the effect of the rates of different reactions on the hormonal secretion rate is evaluated. Bibliogr. 21. Il. 7.