用于研究肠道黏液屏障的创新微流控模型:数值与实验视角
Innovative microfluidic model for investigating the intestinal mucus barrier: numerical and experimental perspectives.
作者信息
Valibeknejad Mohammad, Alizadeh Reza, Abdoli S Majid, Quodbach Julian, Heidari Faranak, Mihăilă Silvia M, Boukany Pouyan E, Raoof Amir
机构信息
Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Sahand New Town, Tabriz, Iran.
出版信息
Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2025 Mar 6. doi: 10.1007/s13346-025-01818-8.
The intestinal mucus layer serves as a critical first line of defense against external agents, functioning as a barrier to the absorption of drugs, food, and pathogens. While numerous in vitro studies have explored the role of mucus in preventing particle penetration, the effects of flowing luminal material, dislodging of mucus because of induced shear rate by lumen material and interfacial phenomena remain poorly understood. This study introduces a microfluidic approach to simulate the interaction between flowing luminal material and the mucus layer. The approach successfully measures both particle penetration into the mucus layer and the rate of mucus dislodgement by flowing luminal material. A biosimilar mucus model (BSM) and Hank's Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) were employed as mimics of human intestinal mucus and luminal fluid, respectively. To investigate the effect of viscosity on the particle penetration pattern, two variants of the mucus model were used: BSM-1, representing a low-viscosity mucus model, and BSM-2, representing a high-viscosity mucus model. The velocity fields in the mucus and luminal material were extracted by tracking fluorescent particles. The results revealed significant differences between BSM-1 and BSM-2, attributed to their rheological properties. These findings were further confirmed through an assessment of the viscoelastic properties of the BSM models. The study utilized COMSOL Multiphysics for numerical simulations, successfully predicting experimental outcomes by solving fluid flow equations. Physicochemical characterizations of BSM and HBSS were performed to link the experimental results with numerical simulations, including flow sweep tests, the application of the power-law model for viscosity, and measurements of mucus density and wettability. This study proposes a microfluidic platform for examining mucus dislodgement and particle penetration in both low- and high-viscosity mucus models. The findings offer valuable insights into the intestinal mucus barrier's response to shear stress. The validated numerical approach and physicochemical characterizations provide a foundation for future studies on mucus dislodgement rates and penetration in more complex intestinal geometries and diverse flow conditions.
肠道黏液层是抵御外部因素的关键第一道防线,起到了阻止药物、食物和病原体吸收的屏障作用。尽管众多体外研究探讨了黏液在防止颗粒穿透方面的作用,但管腔内流动物质的影响、管腔物质诱导剪切率导致的黏液脱落以及界面现象仍知之甚少。本研究引入了一种微流控方法来模拟管腔内流动物质与黏液层之间的相互作用。该方法成功地测量了颗粒进入黏液层的情况以及管腔内流动物质导致的黏液脱落速率。分别采用生物相似黏液模型(BSM)和汉克斯平衡盐溶液(HBSS)模拟人肠道黏液和管腔液。为了研究黏度对颗粒穿透模式的影响,使用了两种黏液模型变体:代表低黏度黏液模型的BSM - 1和代表高黏度黏液模型的BSM - 2。通过追踪荧光颗粒提取黏液和管腔内物质中的速度场。结果显示BSM - 1和BSM - 2之间存在显著差异,这归因于它们的流变特性。通过对BSM模型黏弹性特性的评估进一步证实了这些发现。该研究利用COMSOL Multiphysics进行数值模拟,通过求解流体流动方程成功预测了实验结果。对BSM和HBSS进行了物理化学表征,以将实验结果与数值模拟联系起来,包括流动扫描测试、黏度幂律模型的应用以及黏液密度和润湿性的测量。本研究提出了一个微流控平台,用于研究低黏度和高黏度黏液模型中的黏液脱落和颗粒穿透情况。这些发现为深入了解肠道黏液屏障对剪切应力的反应提供了有价值的见解。经过验证的数值方法和物理化学表征为未来研究更复杂肠道几何形状和不同流动条件下的黏液脱落速率和穿透情况奠定了基础。