Method and apparatus for computer modeling diabetes

A computer model of a disease state of diabetes, comprising:

• a computer-readable memory storing:
• instructions defining a set of biological processes related to the disease state of diabetes, at least two biological processes from the set of biological processes being associated with a set of mathematical relationships related to interactions among biological variables associated with the biological processes, the instructions defining a simulation of glucose metabolism, wherein the simulation comprises a representation of two macronutrient metabolisms selected from the group consisting of fat metabolism, protein metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism, wherein
• a representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• and
• a representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• and
• a processor coupled to the computer-readable memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions producing a simulated biological attribute and to store the simulated biological attribute in a computer-readable medium.

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to model a disease state of diabetes, the instructions comprising:

• defining a normal biological state though a set of biological processes, each biological process from the set of biological processes having its own associated parameter set, the set of biological processes being related to glucose metabolism, wherein the set of biological processes comprises a representation of two macronutrient metabolisms selected from the group consisting of fat metabolism, protein metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism, wherein
• a representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• a representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• providing a plurality of predefined defect indicators, each predefined defect indicator from the plurality of predefined defect indicators being uniquely associated with a defect from a plurality of defects associated with a disease state of diabetes, each defect from the plurality of defects being associated with at least one biological process from the set of biological processes;
• receiving a user-specified identification of a first defect indicator from the plurality of predefined defect indicators, a first defect from the plurality of defects being associated with the first defect indicator, the parameter set associated with each biological processes that is associated with the first defect being changed based on the user-specified identification to generate a changed parameter set;
• and
• storing the changed parameter set in a computer-readable medium.

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to model a disease state of diabetes, the instructions comprising:

• providing a plurality of predefined defect indicators, each predefined defect indicator from the plurality of predefined defect indicators being uniquely associated with a defect from a plurality of defects associated with a disease state, each defect from the plurality of defects being associated with at least one biological process from a set of biological processes, the set of biological processes being related to glucose metabolism, wherein the set of biological processes comprises a representation of two macronutrient metabolisms selected from the group consisting of fat metabolism, protein metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism, wherein
• a representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• and
• a representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• receiving a user-specified identification of a first defect indicator from the plurality of predefined defect indicators, a first defect from the plurality of defects being associated with the first defect indicator, the first defect being associated with at least one biological process and its associated parameter set, the at least one parameter set associated with the first defect being changed based on the user-specified identification;
• and
• receiving a user-specified identification of a second defect indicator from the plurality of predefined defect indicators, a second defect from the plurality of defects being associated with the second defect indicator, the second defect being associated with at least one biological process and its associated parameter set, the at least one parameter set associated with the second defect being changed based on the user-specified identification to generate a changed parameter set;
• and
• storing the changed parameter set in a computer-readable medium.

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to model a disease state of diabetes the instructions comprising:

• defining a plurality of biological processes related to a disease state of diabetes, wherein the plurality of biological processes comprises a representation of two macronutrient metabolisms selected from the group consisting of fat metabolism, protein metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism, wherein
• a representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• and
• a representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• producing a simulated biological attribute associated with at least one biological attribute of diabetes based on the plurality of biological processes;
• and
• storing the simulated attribute in the computer-readable medium
• wherein the step of defining includes:
• defining a set of mathematical relations associated with a first biological process from the plurality of biological processes and associated with interactions among biological variables associated with the first biological process, and
• defining a set of mathematical relations associated with a second biological process from the plurality of biological processes and associated with interactions among biological variables associated with the second biological process,
• a first biological process from the plurality of biological processes being associated with metabolism of at least two from the group of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, a second biological process from the plurality of biological processes being associated with metabolism of glucose.

A method for creating a computer model of diabetes, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of user-selected indications to define a plurality of biological processes, each biological process from the plurality of biological processes being based on data that relates to changes in biological states to biological attributes of diabetes, wherein the plurality of biological processes comprises a representation of two macronutrient metabolisms selected from the group consisting of fat metabolism, protein metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism, wherein
• a representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• and
• a representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• producing a representation of the plurality of biological processes based on the user-selected indications, the plurality of biological processes defining at least one portion of the disease state of diabetes;
• producing a simulated biological attribute associated with at least one biological attribute of diabetes based on the combined plurality of biology processes;
• and assessing a validity of the computer model based on a comparison between the simulated biological attribute and a corresponding biological attribute associated with a reference pattern of diabetes;
• and
• storing the simulated biological attribute in a computer-readable medium.

A method for creating a computer model of diabetes, comprising:

• identifying data relating to diabetes, the data relating changes in biological states to biological attributes of diabetes;
• identifying a plurality of biological processes related to the data, the plurality of biological processes defining at least one portion of the disease state of diabetes;
• combining the plurality of biological processes to form a simulation of at least one biological attribute of diabetes, wherein the simulation comprises a representation of fat metabolism, wherein the representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• producing a simulated biological attribute associated with at least one biological attribute of diabetes based on the combined plurality of biological processes;
• and
• storing the simulated biological attribute in a computer-readable medium.

A method for creating a computer model of diabetes, comprising:

• identifying data relating to diabetes, the data relating changes in biological states to biological attributes of diabetes;
• identifying a plurality of biological processes related to the data, the plurality of biological processes defining at least one portion of the disease state of diabetes;
• combining the plurality of biological processes to form a simulation of at least one biological attribute of diabetes, wherein the simulation comprises a representation of protein metabolism, wherein the representation of protein metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of production of amino acids from carbohydrate in muscle, hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acid substrate, oxidation of amino acids in muscle, oxidation of amino acids in liver, and regulation of skeletal muscle protein turnover in response to a stimulus selected from activity, exercise, fat mass, dietary composition, and insulin;
• producing a simulated biological attribute associated with at least one biological attribute of diabetes based on the combined plurality of biological processes;
• and
• storing the simulated biological attribute in a computer-readable medium.

A computer model of a disease state of diabetes, comprising:

• a computer-readable memory storing:
• instructions defining a set of biological processes related to the disease state of diabetes, at least two biological processes from the set of biological processes being associated with a set of mathematical relationships related to interactions among biological variables associated with the biological processes, the instructions defining a simulation of at least one biological attribute of diabetes, wherein the simulation comprises a representation of fat metabolism, wherein the representation of fat metabolism comprises a representation of at least one biological process selected from the group consisting of regulation of adipose tissue uptake of free fatty acid, regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, regulation of adipose tissue triglyceride esterification, hepatic lipoprotein regulation, muscle free fatty acid uptake, and muscle free fatty acid utilization;
• and
• a processor coupled to the computer-readable memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions producing a simulated biological attribute and to store the simulated biological attribute in a computer-readable medium.