department of chemical engineering university of california, los angeles
DESCRIPTION
Computational Modeling & Simulation of Nitric Oxide Transport-Reaction in the Blood. Nael H. El-Farra Panagiotis D. Christofides James C. Liao. Department of Chemical Engineering University of California, Los Angeles. 2003 AIChE Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA November 17, 2003. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Department of Chemical EngineeringUniversity of California, Los Angeles
2003 AIChE Annual Meeting
San Francisco, CANovember 17, 2003
Nael H. El-FarraPanagiotis D. Christofides
James C. Liao
Computational Modeling & Simulation Computational Modeling & Simulation of Nitric Oxide Transport-Reaction in of Nitric Oxide Transport-Reaction in
the Bloodthe Blood
• Nitric oxide (NO) : active free radical
Immune response
Neuronal signal transduction
Inhibition of platelet adhesion & aggregation
Regulation of vascular tone and permeability
• Versatility as a biological signaling molecule
Molecule of the year (Science, 1993)
Nobel Prize (Dr. Ignarro, UCLA, 1998)
• Need for fundamental understanding of NO regulation
Distributed modeling
IntroductionIntroduction
• Complex mechanism:
Release in blood vessel wall
Diffusion into surrounding tissue
Blood pressure regulation
Diffusion into vessel interior
Scavenging by hemoglobin
Trace amounts can abolish NO
• Paradox: how can NO maintain its biological how can NO maintain its biological
function ?function ?
Barriers for NO uptake
NO Transport-Reactions in BloodNO Transport-Reactions in Blood
Vessel wall
Barriers for NO Uptake in the Blood
(1)(2)
(3)(4)
Previous Work on Modeling NO Transport
• Homogenous models:
Blood treated as a continuum
e.g., Lancaster, 1994; Vaughn et al., 1998
• Single-cell models:
Neglects inter-cellular diffusion
e.g., Vaughn et al., 2000; Liu et al., 2002
• Survey of previous modeling works (Buerk, 2001)
• Limitations:
Population of red blood cells (RBC) unaccounted for
Cannot quantify relative significance of barriers
Present Work
• Objectives:
Develop a detailed multi-particle model to describe NO transport-reactions in the blood
Use the developed model to investigate sources for NO transport resistance
Boundary layer diffusion (RBC population)
RBC membrane permeability
Cell-free zone
Quantify barriers for NO uptake
(El-Farra, Christofides, & Liao, Annals Biomed. Eng., 2003)
Abluminal region (smooth muscle)
Endothelium (NO production)
R
R+
Physical Dimensions:
R=50 m, =2.5 m
Geometry of Blood Vessel
Blood vessel lumen
• Steady-state behavior:
Small characteristic time for diffusion/reaction
(~10 ms)
• NO diffusivity independent of concentration or position
NO is dilute
• Isotropic diffusion
• Convective transport of NO negligible
Axial gradient small vs. length of region emitting NO
• Hb is main source of NO consumption
Negligible reaction rates with O2
Modeling Assumptions
Surrounding tissue (Abluminal region):
Vessel wall (Endothelium):
Vessel interior (lumen):
• Governing Equations:
Mathematical Modeling of NO Transport
Mathematical Modeling of NO Transport
• Continuum model (Basic scenario):
Spatially uniform NO-Hb reaction rate in vessel
• Particulate model:
Barriers for NO uptake:
Red blood cells (infinitely permeable)
RBC membrane permeability
Cell-free zone
• Transport resistance analysis
• Numerical solutions thru finite-element algorithms
Adaptive mesh (finer mesh near boundaries)
Overview of Simulation ResultsM
odel Com
plexity grows
• NO distribution in blood vessel and surrounding tissue
Simulations of Continuum Model
Radial variations of mean NO concentration
Simulations of Continuum Model
• Hemoglobin “packaged” inside permeable RBCs
Inter-cell diffusion (boundary layer)Abluminal region
Extra-cellular space
Intracellular space
Endothelium
Effect of Red Blood Cells
Simulations of Basic Particulate Model
• NO distribution in blood vessel and surrounding tissue
• Blood hematocrit determines number of cells
~ 45-50% under normal physiological conditions
Simulations of Basic Particulate Model
Radial variations of mean NO concentration for homogeneous & particulate models
Effect of RBC Membrane Permeability
Abluminal region
EndotheliumIntracellular space
Extra-cellular space
Simulations of Particulate Model+Membrane
Radial variations of NO concentration for homogeneous, particulate & particulate+RBC membrane models
Simulations of Full Particulate Model
NO concentration profiles for homogeneous, particulate, particulate+membrane, & full particulate models
• Computation of mass transfer resistance
Quantifying NO Transport Barriers
Relative Significance of Transport Barriers
• Fractional resistance is a strong function of blood hematocrit:
Membrane resistance dominant at high Hct.
Extra-cellular diffusion dominant at low Hct.
Extracellular diffusion
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
45% 25% 15% 5%
Blood hematocrit
RBC membrane
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
45% 25% 15% 5%
Blood hematocrit
Acknowledgements
• Mathematical modeling of NO diffusion-reaction in blood
• Diffusional limitations of NO transport:
Population of red blood cells
RBC membrane permeability
Cell free zone
• Relative significance of resistances depends on Hct.
• Practical implications:
Encapsulation of Hb in design of blood substitutes
• NSF and NIH
Conclusions
ECEC ECEC
Stationary Flow
RBC RBC
Effect of Blood Flow
• Creates a cell-depleted zone near vessel wall (~2.5 m)