Nasal Mucociliary Clearance affecting local Drug-absorption in Subject-specific Geometries

NIH RePORTER · FDA · U01 · $199,525 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary Drug administering has conventionally been through the process of ingestion or via invasive procedures. There is an efficient way of delivering drugs through the nasal cavity. The nasal route for direct drug- aerosol delivery is an attractive approach to combat various pathological conditions. For example, if rapid absorption of the delivered drugs can be ensured at the nasal epithelium through the mucus layer, this methodology enables fast onset of action avoiding formulation breakdown in the digestive system and first- pass metabolism and side effects. In order to simulate and analyze the fate of inhaled drug-aerosols in nasal cavities, including dissolution and absorption in the mucus layer, a validated and comprehensive computer simulation model is a very useful and cost-effective tool. Hence, based on the current research activities and the FDA funding opportunity, the specific aims are: (i) Development and validation of transient 3-D mucociliary clearance (MCC) and interactive particle transport/deposition models applied to different nasal geometries. (ii) Use of a representative configuration to simulate and analyze drug-aerosol transport, deposition, absorption and clearance; all subject to different inlet conditions and possibly obstructed nasal geometries. (iii) Writing of research papers as well as completion of a user’s manual in OpenFOAM. These research objectives can be achieved by developing and testing the proposed computational fluid- particle dynamics model in open-source software (ie, OpenFOAM). With the new easy-to-use numerical model different geometric nose-to-trachea configurations addressing subject-variability, air-particle- mucus interactions affecting drug-aerosol transport/deposition, and mucociliary clearance (MCC) with drug transport and absorption dynamics for different nasal inlet conditions will be simulated and analyzed.

Key facts

NIH application ID
9984969
Project number
5U01FD006537-03
Recipient
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH
Principal Investigator
CLEMENT KLEINSTREUER
Activity code
U01
Funding institute
FDA
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$199,525
Award type
5
Project period
2018-09-01 → 2021-12-31