THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Marko E PopovićORCID

,

Vojin M Tadić

,

Marijana Pantović-Pavlović

BIOTHERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF MYCOPLASMA PATHOGEN-HOST INTERACTIONS

ABSTRACT
During pathogenesis of infections, changes occur in different state properties of microorganisms, as well as damage to host cells. Damage to host cells is proportional to the rate of multiplication of microorganisms. The rate of multiplication of microorganisms is directly proportional to the driving force of biosynthesis of microorganism molecules. The driving force of multiplication of microorganisms is Gibbs energy of biosynthesis. Based on the value of Gibbs energy of biosynthesis, it is possible to assess the virulence of a microorganism. A microorganism characterized with a more negative Gibbs energy exhibits faster kinetics of biosynthesis and greater degree of damage to host cells. In this research, the atom counting method, molecular composition method and Patel-Erickson-Battley model were used to determine empirical formula, molar mass and thermodynamic properties of live matter of Mycoplasma cells. The determined properties were used to formulate the biosynthesis reaction and find thermodynamic properties of biosynthesis of Mycoplasma cells. Furthermore, a mechanistic model was developed of pathogen-host interactions of Mycoplasma, based on nonequilibrium thermodynamics.
KEYWORDS
Biosynthesis, Epidemic, Mechanistic model, Microorganism, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, Virulence, Bacteria, Gibbs energy, enthalpy, entropy
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2026-01-05
PAPER REVISED: 2026-02-20
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2026-02-15
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2026-04-12
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI260105042P
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Biothermodynamic analysis of Mycoplasma pathogen-host interactions

© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence