  Recent experimental studies have suggested the ratio between T-helper and
T-suppressor lymphocytes as an index of immunosuppression in HIV, cancer,
immunosenescence and inflammatory and auto-immune diseases. However, a
quantitative understanding of the impact of this ratio on the immune response
has lagged behind data and its validity as a tool for prognostic monitoring or
therapeutic target remains an open question. In this work, we use statistical
physics and dynamical systems approaches to analyze the time-dependent response
to an antigen, of a simplified model of the adaptive immune system, which
comprises B, T-helper and T-suppressor lymphocytes. The model is remarkably
robust against changes in the noise level and kinetic parameters, but it is
very sensitive to changes in the ratio between T-helper and T-suppressor
lymphocytes, exhibiting, in particular, a transition from a responsive to an
immuno-suppressed phase, as the ratio is lowered below a critical value, which
is in line with experiments. This result supports the validity of the
T-helper/T-suppressor ratio as an index of immunosuppression and may provide a
useful theoretical benchmark to interpret and compare experiments.
