We show some results which can replace the graph theory used to construct global Lyapunov functions in some coupled systems of differential equations. We present an example of an epidemic model with stage structure and latency spreading in a heterogeneous host population and obtain a more general threshold for the extinction and persistence of a disease. Using some results obtained by mathematical induction and suitable Lyapunov functionals, we prove the global stability of the endemic equilibrium. For some coupled systems of differential equations, by a similar approach to the discussion of the epidemic model, the conditions of threshold property or global stability can be established without the assumption that the relative matrix is irreducible.