Laboratorio de Sistemas Complejos, Departamento de Computacion, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
PLoS One. 2011 Apr 29;6(4):e17303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017303.
We present experimental measurements and theoretical predictions of ion transport in agar gels during reversible electroporation (ECT) for conditions typical to many clinical studies found in the literature, revealing the presence of pH fronts emerging from both electrodes. These results suggest that pH fronts are immediate and substantial. Since they might give rise to tissue necrosis, an unwanted condition in clinical applications of ECT as well as in irreversible electroporation (IRE) and in electrogenetherapy (EGT), it is important to quantify their extent and evolution. Here, a tracking technique is used to follow the space-time evolution of these pH fronts. It is found that they scale in time as t(½), characteristic of a predominantly diffusive process. Comparing ECT pH fronts with those arising in electrotherapy (EChT), another treatment applying constant electric fields whose main goal is tissue necrosis, a striking result is observed: anodic acidification is larger in ECT than in EChT, suggesting that tissue necrosis could also be greater. Ways to minimize these adverse effects in ECT are suggested.
我们展示了在琼脂凝胶中的离子传输的实验测量和理论预测，这些实验条件是可逆电穿孔（ECT）的典型条件，与文献中的许多临床研究相符，揭示了从两个电极出现 pH 前沿的存在。这些结果表明 pH 前沿是即时的和实质性的。由于它们可能导致组织坏死，这是 ECT 临床应用以及不可逆电穿孔（IRE）和电基因治疗（EGT）中不希望出现的情况，因此量化它们的程度和演变是很重要的。在这里，使用跟踪技术来跟踪这些 pH 前沿的时空演变。结果发现，它们的时间尺度为 t(½)，这是一个主要的扩散过程的特征。将 ECT pH 前沿与在电疗（EChT）中出现的那些进行比较，电疗是另一种应用恒定电场的治疗方法，其主要目的是组织坏死，可以观察到一个惊人的结果：在 ECT 中阳极酸化比在 EChT 中更大，这表明组织坏死也可能更大。提出了在 ECT 中最小化这些不利影响的方法。
