title: Location-dependent coronary artery diffusive and convective mass transport properties of a lipophilic drug surrogate measured using nonlinear microscopy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Arterial wall mass transport properties dictate local distribution of biomolecules or locally delivered dugs. Knowing how these properties vary between coronary artery locations could provide insight into how therapy efficacy is altered between arterial locations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We introduced an indocarbocyanine drug surrogate to the lumens of left anterior descending and right coronary (LADC; RC) arteries from pigs with or without a pressure gradient. Interstitial fluorescent intensity was measured on live samples with multiphoton microscopy. We also measured binding to porcine coronary SMCs in monoculture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diffusive transport constants peaked in the middle sections of the LADC and RC arteries by 2.09 and 2.04 times, respectively, compared to the proximal and distal segments. There was no statistical difference between the average diffusivity value between LADC and RC arteries. The convection coefficients had an upward trend down each artery, with the RC being higher than the LADC by 3.89 times.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that the convective and diffusive transport of lipophilic molecules changes between the LADC and the RC arteries as well as along their length. These results may have important implications in optimizing drug delivery for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vande Geest
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002232:Carbocyanines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D004058:Diffusion; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000378:metabolism; D011312:Pressure; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D002232:Carbocyanines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes