A Dense Gas Model of Combined Transports and Distributions of Solutes in the Interstitium including Steric and Electrostatic Exclusion Effects, and Comparison with Experimental Data

Abstract

Mathematical modeling of physiological fluid systems is regarded as an important tool for further understanding of circulatory properties. The interstitium is a fluid filled space outside the cells in the body, and all transport of substances in and out of cells must pass through the interstitium. It is therefore of great interest to obtain a better understanding of this fluid flow. Large substances, e.g.\ proteins and some therapeutic agents, are hindered due to their molecular size. They are excluded from a certain fraction of the fluid volume, and thus have a lower distribution volume in the interstitium. However, the molecular charge may have a strong influence on the exclusion phenomenon. This has been the motivation for the modeling in this thesis. First, it is derived a set of equations appropriate for modeling fluid flow through the interstitium. Furthermore, a thorough study of electrostatic properties of the interstitium has been performed.