Title:High Haematocrit Blood Flow and Adsorption of Micro and Nanoparticles on an Atherosclerotic Plaque: An In-silico Study
Volume: 18
Issue: 10
Author(s): Mohamadamin Forouzandehmehr and Amir Shamloo*
Affiliation:
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran,Iran
Keywords:
High haematocrit, nano drug carriers, adhesion, personalised modelling, atherosclerotic plaque, anti-thrombotic/inflammatory drugs.
Abstract:
Background: The continuing inflammatory response entailed by atherosclerosis is categorised
by a pathological surface expression of certain proteins over the endothelium, namely, P-selectins.
Thus, to boost the efficiency of drug carriers, these proteins can be used as binding targets.
Objectives: Delivery of particles in a specific size range, from 200 to 3200 nm, covered by P-selectin
aptamers (PSA), to an atherosclerotic plaque in a pathologically high haematocrit (Hct)
blood flow was simulated. The surface of the plaque was assumed to possess a pathologically high
expression of P-Selectins.
Methods: An in-silico patient-specific model of a Left Anterior Descending (LAD) coronary artery
considering the luminal unevenness was built and meshed using the finite element method.
Results: The distribution of deposited particles over the plaque in high Hct blood was significantly
more homogenous compared to that of particles that travelled in normal blood Hct. Moreover, in
the high Hct, the increase in the particle size, from 800 nm forwards, had a trivial effect on the upsurge
in the surface density of adhered particles (SDAs) over the targeted endothelium. Yet, in normal
blood Hct (45% in this research), the increase in the particle diameter from 800 nm forwards resulted
in a significant increase in the SDAs over the targeted plaque. Interestingly, unlike the adsorption
pattern of particles in normal Hct, a significant distribution of deposited particles in the
post-constriction region of the atherosclerotic plaque was observed.
Conclusion: Our findings provide insights into designing optimum carriers of anti-thrombotic/inflammatory
drugs specifically for high blood Hct conditions.
