Periodical Solutions in a Pulse-Modulated Model of Endocrine Regulation With Time-Delay

A hybrid mathematical model of endocrine regulation obtained by augmenting the classical continuous Smith model with a pulse-modulated feedback to describe episodic (pulsatile) secretion is considered. Conditions for existence and local orbital stability of periodical solutions with
$m$
impulses in the least period (
$m$
-cycles) are derived. An important implication of the performed analysis is that the nonlinear dynamics of the pulse-modulated system and not the delay itself cause the sustained closed-loop oscillations. Furthermore, simulation and bifurcation analysis indicate that increasing the time delay in the system in hand typically, but not always, leads to less complex dynamic pattern in the closed-loop system by giving rise to stable cycles of lower periodicity.