Physiologically based clearance/extraction models for compounds metabolized in the nose: an example with methyl methacrylate.

Airstream clearance (with units of volume/time) is the volumetric flow from which chemical would have to be completely removed to account for the net loss in the nose. Extraction is the proportion of airflow from which the chemical is completely removed. Over the past several years we have developed physiologically based clearance-extraction (PBCE) models for the nose to assess the physiological, biochemical, and anatomical factors that control airstream clearance. A generic clearance equation was derived for single airway/tissue compartments that had a separate air region and either one, two, or three underlying tissue regions. For all of these structures, airstream clearance (Cl(sys)) has a common form-Equation (1)-related to tissue clearance (Cltot), gas-phase diffusional clearance (PAgas), airflow (Q), and the mucus air partition coefficient (Hmuc:a). Clsys = CltotHm:aPAgasQ/CltotHm:a(Q + PAgas) + PAgasQ. A physiologically based clearance-extraction (PBCE) model for the whole nose combined three separate nasal tissue regions, each with a four-compartment tissue stack (air, mucus, epithelial tissue, and submucosal region). A steady-state solution of the PBCE model successfully described literature results on the steady-state extraction of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and several other metabolized vapors. Model-derived tissue dosimetry estimates, that is, the amount of MMA metabolized in the target epithelial compartment of the olfactory region, for rats and humans provide dosimetric adjustment factors (DAFs) required in calculating a human reference concentration (RfC) from rodent studies. Depending on the assignment of esterase activities to sustentacular and submucosal regions, the DAFs from the PBCE model varied between 1.6 and 8.0, compared to the default value of 0.145. From the experience with MMA, a minimal data set could be defined for building the PBCE model. It consists of mucus:air and blood:air partition coefficients, metabolic constants for enzymatic hydrolysis in nasal tissues from rat and human tissues, immunohistochemistry of the distribution of these activities in rats and human olfactory tissues, and extraction studies in anesthetized rats to assess the total nasal metabolism of the test compound.