Hedayat A, Peace R, Elmoselhi H, Shoker A. Study of uremic toxin fluxes across nanofabricated hemodialysis membranes using irreversible thermodynamics.
Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2013;
6:e201303005. [PMID:
24688713 PMCID:
PMC3962091 DOI:
10.5936/csbj.201303005]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2013] [Revised: 06/02/2013] [Accepted: 06/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The flux of uremic toxin middle molecules through currently used hemodialysis membranes is suboptimal, mainly because of the membranes' pore architecture.
AIM
Identifying the modifiable sieving parameters that can be improved by nanotechnology to enhance fluxes of uremic toxins across the walls of dialyzers' capillaries.
METHODS
We determined the maximal dimensions of endothelin, cystatin C, and interleukin - 6 using the macromolecular modeling software, COOT. We also applied the expanded Nernst-Plank equation to calculate the changes in the overall flux as a function of increased electro-migration and pH of the respective molecules.
RESULTS
In a high flux hemodialyzer, the effective diffusivities of endothelin, cystatin C, and interleukin - 6 are 15.00 x 10(-10) cm(2)/s, 7.7 x 10(-10) cm(2)/s, and 5.4 x 10(-10) cm(2)/s, respectively, through the capillaries' walls. In a nanofabricated membrane, the effective diffusivities of endothelin, cystatin C, and interleukin - 6 are 13.87 x 10(-7) cm(2)/s, 5.73 x 10(-7) cm(2)/s, and 3.45 x 10(-7) cm(2)/s, respectively, through a nanofabricated membrane. Theoretical modeling showed that a 96% reduction in the membrane's thickness and the application of an electric potential of 10 mV across the membrane could enhance the flux of endothelin, cystatin C, and interleukin - 6 by a factor of 25. A ΔpH of 0.07 altered the fluxes minimally.
CONCLUSIONS
Nanofabricated hemodialysis membranes with a reduced thickness and an applied electric potential can enhance the effective diffusivity and electro-migration flux of the respective uremic toxins by 3 orders of magnitude as compared to those passing through the high flux hemodialyzer.
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