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PubMed1985

Translational diffusion of lipids in liquid crystalline phase phosphatidylcholine multibilayers. A comparison of experiment with theory.

A systematic study of the translational diffusion of the phospholipid derivative N-(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)phosphatidylethanolamine (NBD-PE) has been undertaken in liquid crystalline phase phosphatidylcholine bilayers by using the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technique. This work was done with the intention of comparing the experimental results with the predictions of theoretical models for diffusion in membranes. The following is shown. For NBD-PE, the dependence of the translational diffusion coefficient (Dt) upon the acyl chain length of the diffusant is not that predicted by continuum fluid hydrodynamic models for diffusion in membranes [Saffman, P.G., & Delbrueck, M. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 3111-3113; Hughes, B. D., Pailthorpe, B. A., & White, L. R. (1981) J. Fluid Mech. 110, 349-372]. Plots of Dt vs. 1/T (Arrhenius plots) are nonlinear in dilauroyl-phosphatidylcholine (DLPC), dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers where the acyl chain composition of the NBD-PE is matched with that of the host bilayer lipid. This suggests that a "free volume" model may be appropriate for the description of lipid diffusion in lipid bilayers. In bilayers of phosphatidylcholines with saturated acyl chains at the same "reduced temperature", the magnitude of Dt follows the order distearoylphosphatidylcholine greater than DPPC greater than DMPC greater than DLPC. This is the inverse of what may be expected from the hydrodynamic model but is in agreement with the free volume in these bilayers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Diffusion↗

PubMed1987

Pyrene-labeled gangliosides: micelle formation in aqueous solution, lateral diffusion, and thermotropic behavior in phosphatidylcholine bilayers.

By use of the excimer technique, the formation in aqueous solution of pyrene-labeled ganglioside micelles and their lateral diffusion and distribution in phosphatidylcholine membranes were investigated. For these studies 12-(1-pyrenyl)dodecanoic acid was covalently attached to the ceramide part of lysogangliosides GM1, GM2, GM3, GD1a, and GD1b. The 12-(1-pyrenyl)dodecanoic acid substitute of phosphatidylcholine was used for comparison. All pyrene-labeled gangliosides were present in aqueous solution in a predominantly micellar form down to 2 X 10(-8) M, which is the technical limit of this method. The tendency to aggregate is highest for PyGD1a and PyGD1b. In fluid dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers the excimer-to-monomer fluorescence intensity ratio of pyrene-labeled gangliosides PyGM1, PyGM2, PyGM3, PyGD1a, and PyGD1b increases linearly with ganglioside concentration. The calculated diffusion coefficients for gangliosides are comparable to 1.6 X 10(-7) cm2/s, which is the diffusion coefficient of pyrene-labeled phosphatidylcholine [Galla, H.-J., & Hartmann, W. (1980) Chem. Phys. Lipids 27, 199-219]. In comparison to phosphatidylcholine, the diffusion of monosialogangliosides is slightly increased, with that diffusion of disialogangliosides being slightly decreased. Ca2+ ions up to 200 mM do not affect ganglioside diffusion significantly. The shape of the lipid phase transition curves obtained by the excimer technique yields information on the lateral distribution of the tested probe molecules. Pyrene-labeled phosphatidylcholine was taken as reference for a system with complete miscibility but nonideal mixing. 1-Acyl-2-[10-(1-pyrenyl)decanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PyPC) is known to be randomly distributed in the gel and in the fluid-crystalline lipid phase of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes. It distributes preferentially into the fluid phase in the phase-transition region. In comparison, PyPC in dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine membranes is an example of a system with nearly ideal mixing [Hresko, R. C., Sugar, J. P., Barenholz, Y., & Thompson, T. E. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 3813-3828]. Phase-transition curves of pyrene-labeled gangliosides exemplify a nearly ideal mixing system with PyGD1a or PyGD1b producing best effects. The monosialogangliosides, however, exhibit less ideality of mixing, the deviation from an ideal mixing behavior increasing with decreasing number of both neutral sugar residues and sialic acid groups. Addition of Ca2+ triggers a tightening of the phosphatidylcholine bilayer and thus induces a change in the lateral distribution of the gangliosides at the phase transition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗

PubMed1988

Lateral diffusion and fluorescence microscope studies on a monoclonal antibody specifically bound to supported phospholipid bilayers.

Supported phospholipid bilayers prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett techniques were introduced recently as a new model membrane system [Tamm, L.K., & McConnell, H.M. (1985) Biophys. J. 47, 105-113]. Here, supported bilayers are applied to study the lateral diffusion and lateral distribution of membrane-bound monoclonal antibodies. A monoclonal anti-trinitrophenol antibody was found to bind strongly and with high specificity to supported phospholipid bilayers containing the lipid hapten (trinitrophenyl)phosphatidylethanolamine at various mole fractions. The lateral distribution of the membrane-bound antibodies was studied by epifluorescence microscopy. The bound antibodies aggregated into patches on a host lipid bilayer of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine below the lipid chain melting phase transition and redistributed uniformly on fluid-phase supported bilayers. Lateral diffusion coefficients and mobile fractions of fluorescent phospholipid analogues and fluorescein-labeled antibodies were measured by fluorescence recovery after pattern photobleaching. The lateral diffusion coefficients of the membrane-bound antibodies resembled those of the phospholipids but were reduced by a factor of 2 in the fluid phase. The lipid chain melting phase transition was also reflected in the lateral diffusion coefficient of the bound antibody but occurred at a temperature about 3 deg higher than the phase transition in supported bilayers of pure phospholipids. The antibody lateral diffusion coefficients decreased in titration experiments monotonically with increasing antibody surface concentrations by a factor of 2-3. Correspondingly, a relatively small decrease of the antibody lateral diffusion coefficient was observed with increasing mole fractions of lipid haptens in the supported bilayer.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Rotational diffusion of a steroid molecule in phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol membranes: fluid-phase microimmiscibility in unsaturated phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol membranes.

Rotational diffusion of androstane spin-label (ASL), a sterol analogue, in various phosphatidylcholine (PC)-cholesterol membranes was systematically studied by computer simulation of steady-state ESR spectra as a function of the chain length and unsaturation of the alkyl chains, cholesterol mole fraction, and temperature for a better understanding of phospholipid-cholesterol and cholesterol-cholesterol interactions. Special attention was paid to the differences in the cholesterol effects on ASL motion between saturated and unsaturated PC membranes. ASL motion in the membrane was treated as Brownian rotational diffusion of a rigid rod within the confines of a cone imposed by the membrane environment. The wobbling rotational diffusion constant of the long axis, its activation energy, and the cone angle of the confines were obtained for various PC-cholesterol membranes in the liquid-crystalline phase. Cholesterol decreases both the cone angle and the wobbling rotational diffusion constant for ASL in all PC membranes studied in this work. The cholesterol effects are the largest in DMPC membranes. An increase of cholesterol mole fraction from 0 to 30% decreases the rotational diffusion constant by a factor of 9-15 (depending on temperature) and the cone angle by a factor of about 2. In dioleoyl-PC membranes, addition of 30 mol % cholesterol reduces both the rotational diffusion constant and the cone angle of ASL by factors of approximately 2.5 and approximately 1.3, respectively, while it was previously found to cause only modest effects on the motional freedom of phospholipid analogue spin probes [Kusumi, A., Subczynski, W. K., Pasenkiewicz-Gierula, M., Hyde, J. S., & Merkle, H. (1986) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 854, 307-317]. It is proposed that fluid-phase microimmiscibility takes place in dioleoyl-PC-cholesterol membranes at physiological temperatures, which induces cholesterol-rich domains in the membrane, partially due to the steric nonconformability between the rigid fused-ring structure of cholesterol and the 30 degrees bend at the C9-C10 cis double bond of the alkyl chains of dioleoyl-PC. The mechanism by which cholesterol influences the lipid dynamics in the membrane is different between saturated and unsaturated PC membranes.

Cholesterol↗

PubMed1982

Lateral diffusion of epidermal growth factor complexed to its surface receptors does not account for the thermal sensitivity of patch formation and endocytosis.

The patching and endocytosis of EGF (epidermal growth factor) bound to A-431 cells (a human epidermoid carcinoma line) are temperature-sensitive processes which are completely inhibited at 4 degrees C. Receptor-mediated endocytosis generally occurs through coated regions, and EGF bound to its membrane receptor must diffuse laterally to these points of internalization. In this work we investigated the thermal sensitivity of the lateral diffusion of EGF receptor complexes and the thermal sensitivity of the patching and endocytosis of the hormone receptor complexes. Using the fluorescence photobleach recovery technique, we measured the lateral diffusion coefficients of a fluorescent derivative of EGF as a function of temperature. The lateral diffusion coefficient (D) increased gradually from 2.8 X 10(-10) cm2/s at 5 degrees C to 8.5 X 10(-10) cm2/s at 37 degrees C, and no phase transition was detected. Neither was a phase transition detected when we measured the diffusion coefficient of fluorescent lipid probes over this temperature range. From a calculation of the collision frequency of the occupied EGF receptors with coated regions using our measured values of D at 5 and 37 degrees C, we conclude that diffusion is not the rate-limiting step for either endocytosis or patching.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Regulation of lipid composition in Acholeplasma laidlawii and Escherichia coli membranes: NMR studies of lipid lateral diffusion at different growth temperatures.

Lipid lateral diffusion coefficients have been directly determined by pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy on macroscopically aligned, fully hydrated lamellar phases containing dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and total lipid extracts from Acholeplasma laidlawii and Escherichia coli. The temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient was of the Arrhenius type in the temperature interval studied. The sharp increase in the diffusion coefficient at the growth temperature of E. coli obtained by FRAP measurements, using a fluorescent probe molecule (Jin, A. J., Edidin, M., Nossal, R., and Gershfeld, N. L. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 13275-13278), was not observed. Thus, we conclude that the lipid structural properties (i.e., those affecting the lipid phase behavior), rather than the lipid dynamics, are involved in the adjustment of the membrane lipid composition. Further support for this conclusion is given by the finding that lipid extracts from A. laidlawii grown at different temperatures have about the same diffusion coefficients. Finally, the lipid lateral diffusion in bilayers of phospholipids was found to be much faster than that in bilayers of mainly glucolipids, which can be understood in terms of a free volume theory for the diffusion process.

Acholeplasma laidlawii↗

PubMed2003

Diffusion coefficients of humic substances in agarose gel and in water.

Measurements of the diffusion coefficients of five different humic substances (HS) have been performed in water and in agarose hydrogels at several pH values (in the range of 3-10) and gel concentrations (in the range of 0.7-3% w/w). Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and classical diffusion cells were used in parallel to probe diffusion over both microscopic and mesoscopic distance scales. In general, agreement between the techniques was reasonable, which indicated that local nonhomogenities in the gel did not play an important role. Diffusion coefficients (D) in the gel were generally in the range of 0.9-2.5 x 10(-10) m2 s(-1) but were generally only 10-20% lower than in solution. At low pH values, one of the studied humic substances (a peat humic acid, PPHA) formed large aggregates that could not penetrate into the gel and therefore could not be defined by a single D value. The observed decreases of D in the gel for other HS were too large to be explained by the tortuousity and obstructive effects of the gel alone. D decreased slightly with increasing gel concentration and increased slightly with pH. Because modifications of D due to pH were similar in both the gel and the free solution, it is unlikely that complexation with the gel was greatly influenced by the pH. Rather, the main effect that appeared to decrease the diffusive flux in gels was likely small increases in the hydrodynamic radii of the humic macromolecules. An anomalous diffusion model was used to describe the FCS data in the gel. The characteristic exponent determined by fitting the autocorrelation functions with this model decreased only slightly (from 0.96 to 0.90) with increasing gel concentration providing support that HS complexation with the gel fibers was not very important. The results have important implications for our understanding of the fate and behavior of the HS and their associated pollutants and for interpreting metal speciation data obtained using gel-covered analytical sensors.

Diffusion↗

PubMed2004

Modeling of TCE diffusion to the atmosphere and distribution in plant stems.

Fate of chlorinated solvents in phytoremediation has been delineated by many discoveries made in recent years. Plant uptake, metabolism, rhizosphere degradation, accumulation, and volatilization were shown to occur to differing degrees for many organic contaminants including chlorinated solvents. Among these mechanistic findings, recent research confirmed that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) volatilize from stems and that the resulting diffusive flux to the atmosphere is related to exposure concentration and to height up the stem. A comprehensive model was developed based upon all identified fate and transport mechanisms for VOCs, including translocation in the xylem flow and diffusion. The dispersion and diffusion in the radial direction were considered as one process (effective diffusion) as the two could not be investigated individually. The mechanism-based model mathematically indicates an exponential decrease of concentrations with height. While an analytic solution for the comprehensive model was not attained, it can serve as a starting point for other modeling efforts. The comprehensive model was simplified in this work for practical application to experimentally obtained data on trichloroethylene (TCE) fate. Model output correlated well with experimental results, and effective diffusivities for TCE in plant tissues were obtained through the model calibrations. The simplified model approximated TCE concentrations in the transpiration stream as well as TCE volatilization to the atmosphere. Xylem transport, including advection, dispersion, and diffusion through cell walls with subsequent volatilization to the atmosphere, is a major fate for VOCs in phytoremediation.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed2005

Analysis of column tortuosity for MnCl2 and bacterial diffusion using magnetic resonance imaging.

Subsurface bacteria often have to travel significant distances through tortuous porous media for purposes of groundwater remediation. In modeling such processes, motile bacteria are often represented as suspended colloids, ignoring their individual swimming or diffusive properties. In fact, bacterial migration is much more profoundly affected by the presence of porous media than is that of a chemical contaminant. In this study, we use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to perform noninvasive measurements of changes in bacterial concentration distributions across a packed column at a spatial resolution of 330 microm as a function of time. We analyze the diffusive behavior of Pseudomonas putida F1 under static conditions and compare that behavior to the diffusion of a chemical solute and of Escherichia coli NR50. Results indicate that P. putida cells experience a column tortuosity 50 times higher than that predicted from solute diffusion experiments. E. coli cells, which display shorter swimming run lengths in bulk solution than P. putida, seem to be less affected by the constricted pore space. Knudsen diffusion, or reductions in run length because of interactions between the diffusing bacteria and the porous media, may help to explain some of this discrepancy.

Diffusion↗

PubMed2006

The sediment-water flux of HOCs due to "diffusion" or is there a well-mixed layer? If there is, does it matter?

In most present modeling of the sediment-water flux of hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs), the flux due to sediment erosion/deposition is described explicitly by means of a sediment transport model, while the remaining components of the flux (molecular diffusion, bioturbation, and groundwater flow) are lumped together and modeled as a "diffusive" flux. This diffusive flux is usually described by means of a mass transfer approximation with the implicit assumption of a well-mixed contaminant layer of thickness h in the sediments. On the basis of recent experiments and theoretical modeling, the justification forthis assumption and the quantification of this diffusive flux are discussed here. In particular, for HOCs with large partition coefficients, it is argued that a well-mixed layer often may not exist, and, when it does, it is slow to form; that h is difficult to define and even harder to quantify; and that, as far as long-term predictions (up to 100 years) of this diffusive flux are concerned, the exact value for h probably does not matter. What does matter are the magnitudes and time dependencies of each of the components of the flux and the interactions between the diffusive flux and the flux due to erosion/deposition.

Diffusion↗

PubMed2005

Translational diffusion coefficients of volatile compounds in various aqueous solutions at low and subzero temperatures.

Translational diffusion coefficients (D(12)) of volatile compounds were measured in model media with the profile concentration method. The influence of sample temperature (from 25 to -10 degrees C) was studied on translational diffusion in sucrose or maltodextrin solutions at various concentrations. Results show that diffusivity of volatile compounds in sucrose solutions is controlled by temperature, molecule size, and the viscosity of the liquid phase as expected with the Stokes-Einstein equation; moreover, physicochemical interactions between volatile compounds and the medium are determinant for diffusion estimation. At negative temperature, the winding path induced by an ice crystal content of >70% lowered volatile compound diffusion. On the contrary, no influence on translational diffusion coefficients was observed for lower ice content.

Chemical Phenomena↗

PubMed2005

Dynamic model of biomolecular diffusion through two-dimensional nanochannels.

The molecular diffusion dynamics in unconstrained cases has been studied thoroughly during the last two centuries, leading to the well-known Fick's diffusion laws and Stokes-Einstein equation. More recently, a new impulse to the study of this topic has been provided by the necessity of understanding the behavior of solute particles in the presence of environmental constraints of size comparable to the molecular dimensions. In this work, we investigate the diffusion kinetics of biomolecules, such as bovine serum albumin, interferon, and lysozyme, through microfabricated silicon membranes, having pores of nanometric size in only one dimension, in the range from few to tens of nanometers (the other dimensions are in the mum range). Experimental results show that the diffusion profiles, in some cases, deviate substantially from those predicted by Fick's laws. In light of these results, a new diffusion mathematical model is proposed, which can reasonably explain the phenomenon and, at the same time, recovers the classical diffusion laws in the unconstrained case. Moreover, a physical description, derived from van der Waals equation of state, is presented, and it is compared with the results obtained by the mathematical model.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Drug dissolution into micellar solutions: development of a convective diffusion model and comparison to the film equilibrium model with application to surfactant-facilitated dissolution of carbamazepine.

The intrinsic dissolution rate of carbamazepine in solutions of sodium lauryl sulfate was measured to study the convective diffusion transport of drug-loaded micelles from a rotating disk. Alternative definitions for effective diffusivity and reaction factor are presented and compared with those commonly used for this type of transport problem. The conventional and alternative approaches are based on the same fundamental assumptions differing only in their interpretation of the diffusional boundary layer. For example, in this study it was observed that, above the cmc, a 2% w/v solution of sodium lauryl sulfate increased the dissolution rate approximately 6-fold and the solubility approximately 20-fold. This difference between the solubility and dissolution enhancement was attributed to the contribution to the total transport of both the enhanced solubility, a 20-fold increase, and the effective diffusivity of the drug-micelle complex, a 3-fold decrease, hence a net 6-fold increase in dissolution. The diffusivity of the drug-loaded micelle estimated from the dissolution data using the new definitions compared well with values determined by other methods (Dsm = 8.4 x 10(-7) cm2/s). On the basis of these results, the new definitions for the effective diffusivity and reaction factor offer a practical method for estimating micellar diffusion coefficients and predicting drug dissolution under the well-defined hydrodynamics of the rotating disk. It may also be possible to extend the application of these definitions to study the dissolution of water-insoluble drugs in other media, such as emulsions, to better understand drug dissolution under fed conditions in vivo.

Carbamazepine↗

PubMed2006

Single-file diffusion near channel boundaries.

Molecular transport under the conditions of single-file diffusion was investigated near the channel boundaries by using dynamic Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of tracer exchange between single-file channels and their surroundings. The boundary effect reported in our recent papers (Vasenkov S.; Kärger, J. Phys. Rev. E 2002, 66, 052601. Schüring, A.; Vasenkov S.; Fritzsche, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 16711) was studied in detail. This boundary effect is characterized by deviations of the intrachannel concentration profiles of tracer molecules observed in the case of single-file diffusion near the channel boundaries from the corresponding profiles typical for normal diffusion. It has been shown in our previous studies that these deviations occur under the conditions when the potential-energy difference inside and outside of single-file channels was both comparable and much larger than the activation energy of intrachannel diffusion. Here, we report a quantitative model describing the boundary effect. According to this model, an occurrence of the boundary effect is related to a complex character of diffusion in finite single-file systems. Such diffusion can be described by the following two types of movements occurring in parallel: (i) correlated displacements of all molecules in any particular channel and (ii) fast displacements of single molecules, which are uncorrelated with the displacements of all other molecules in the same channel. The latter displacements are restricted to a certain length interval that depends on the channel length and the channel occupancy. This length interval is shown to determine the extensions of the channel margins where the boundary effect is observed.

Diffusion↗

PubMed2006

The mechanism of water diffusion in narrow carbon nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes show exceptional physical properties that render them promising candidates as building blocks for nanostructured materials. Many ambitious applications, ranging from gene therapy to membrane separations, require the delivery of fluids, in particular aqueous solutions, through the interior of carbon nanotubes. To foster these and other applications, it is necessary to understand the thermodynamic and transport properties of water confined within long narrow carbon nanotubes. Previous theoretical work considered either short carbon nanotubes or short periods of time. By conducting molecular dynamics simulations in the microcanonical ensemble for water confined in infinitely long carbon nanotubes of diameter 1.08 nm, we show here that confined water molecules diffuse through a fast ballistic motion mechanism for up to 500 ps at room temperature. By comparing the results obtained for the diffusion of water to those obtained for the diffusion of a reference Lennard-Jones fluid, we prove here that long-lasting hydrogen bonds are responsible for the ballistic diffusion of water clusters in narrow carbon nanotubes, as opposed to spatial mismatches between pore-fluid and fluid-fluid attractive interactions which, as shown previously by others, are responsible for the concerted motion of simple fluids in molecular sieves. Additionally we prove here for the first time that, despite the narrow diameter of the carbon nanotubes considered which may suggest the existence of single-file diffusion, when the trajectories of confined water are studied at time scales in excess of 500 ps, a Fickian-type diffusion mechanism prevails. Our results are important for designing nano fluidic apparatuses to develop, for example, novel drug-delivery devices.

Capillary Action↗

PubMed2000

Permeability and diffusion in vitreous humor: implications for drug delivery.

PURPOSE: Previous experimental work suggests that convection may be important in determining the biodistribution of drugs implanted or injected in the vitreous humor. To develop accurate biodistribution models, the relative importance of diffusion and convection in intravitreal transport must be assessed. This requires knowledge of both the diffusivity of candidate drugs and the hydraulic conductivity of the vitreous humor. METHODS: Hydraulic conductivity of cadaveric bovine vitreous humor was measured by confined compression tests at constant loads of 0.15 and 0.2 N and analyzed numerically using a two-phase model. Diffusion coefficient of acid orange 8, a model compound, in the same medium was measured in a custom-built diffusion cell. RESULTS: Acid orange 8 diffusivity within vitreous humor is about half that in free solution. When viscous effects are properly accounted for, the hydraulic conductivity of bovine vitreous humor is 8.4+/-4.5 x 10(-7) cm2/Pa x s. CONCLUSIONS: We predict that convection does not contribute significantly to transport in the mouse eye, particularly for low-molecular-weight compounds. For delivery to larger animals, such as humans we conclude that convection accounts for roughly 30% of the total intravitreal drug transport. This effect should be magnified for higher-molecular-weight compounds, which diffuse more slowly, and in glaucoma, which involves higher intraocular pressure and thus potentially faster convective flow. Thus, caution should be exercised in the extrapolation of small-animal-model biodistribution data to human scale.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Acid diffusion through rat duodenal mucosal cap.

Acid induced duodenal injury occurs immediately following exposure to strong acid but does not worsen despite continuous perfusion with the acid. A thick gelatinous cap is found overlying the duodenum when examined histologically. The purpose of this study was to quantitate the resistance to acid diffusion by native duodenal mucus and the cap material. Rat duodenum was perfused with acid. The mucus from control and acid-perfused animals was harvested and the diffusion coefficient measured. Mucus from the duodenums of anesthetized rats was mixed with bromphenol blue and placed into capillary tubes. The tubes were submersed in 0.15 N HCI at 37 degrees C. The color change from blue to yellow was measured with time as the HCl migrated through the tube. From the distance and time data, the diffusion coefficient could be calculated. Controls of bromphenol blue in water were studied. The diffusion coefficient for HCl in water was 30.1+/-0.9 x 10(-6) cm2/sec, nearly identical to the standard value reported in the literature. For the duodenal mucus adherent to the epithelial surface, it was 1.1+/-0.1 x 10(-6) cm2/sec. Following perfusion with 0.15 N HCl, a 279.6+/-44-microm-thick mucus cap formed over the duodenum that had a diffusion coefficient of 1.8+/-.3 x 10(-8) cm2/sec. In response to injury, the duodenum protects against continued damage by producing a mucoid cap that it highly resistant to acid diffusion.

Acids↗

PubMed1998

Diffusion-limited, but not perfusion-limited, compartmental models describe cerebral nitrous oxide kinetics at high and low cerebral blood flows.

This study aimed to evaluate the relative importance of diffusion-limited vs. perfusion-limited mechanisms in compartmental models of blood-tissue inert gas exchange in the brain. Nitrous oxide concentrations in arterial and brain efferent blood were determined using gas chromatographic analysis during and after 15 min of nitrous oxide inhalation, at separate low and high steady states of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in five sheep under halothane anesthesia. Parameters and model selection criteria of various perfusion- or diffusion-limited structural models of the brain were estimated by simultaneous fitting of the models to the mean observed brain effluent nitrous oxide concentration for both blood flow states. Perfusion-limited models returned precise, credible estimates of apparent brain volume but fit the low CBF data poorly. Diffusion-limited models provided better overall fit of the data, which was best described by exchange of nitrous oxide between a perfusion-limited brain compartment and an unperfused compartment. In individual animals, during the low CBF state, nitrous oxide kinetics displayed either fast, perfusion-limited behavior or slow, diffusion-limited behavior. This variability was exemplified in the different parameter estimates of the diffusion limited models fitted to the individual animal data sets. Results suggest that a diffusion limitation contributes to cerebral nitrous oxide kinetics.

Anesthetics, Inhalation↗