Biomedical Implications of Drag Reducing Agents

Microrheological effects of drag-reducing polymers in vitro and in vivo

“…Nanomolar concentrations of these polymers caused an increase in arterial blood flow and a decrease in both blood pressure and peripheral vascular resistance with no effect on blood viscosity (Coleman et al, 1987;Greene et al, 1971;Grigorian & Kameneva, 1990;Kameneva & Parfenov, 1986;Polimeni et al, 1979Polimeni et al, , 1985Polimeni, Bose, Bose, Otten, & Ottenbreit, 1988;Polimeni & Ottenbreit, 1989). DRPs were found to: restore brain hemodynamics in rabbits with induced circulatory ischemia caused by the total and irreversible occlusion of four main cranial (carotid and vertebral) arteries (Gannushkina et al, 1981); increase the number of functional capillaries and capillary blood flow in normal and especially, in diabetic rats (Golub et al, 1987); increase the resistance of rats to severe hypobaric hypoxia (Grigorian et al, 1985); and significantly increase the endurance of rats running on a treadmill even after they were subjected to hemorrhage (Grigorian et al, 1998).…”

“…Over several decades numerous in vivo experiments with intravenous DRPs demonstrated beneficial hemodynamic effects in various animal models (Coleman, Ottenbreit, & Polimeni, 1987;Gannushkina, Grigorian, Kameneva, & Shakhnazarov, 1981;Golub et al, 1987;Greene et al, 1971Greene et al, , 1980Grigorian & Kameneva, 1990;Grigorian, Sokolova, & Shakhnazarov, 1998;Hutchison, Campbell, & Karpinski, 1989;Kameneva & Parfenov, 1986;Mostardi et al, 1976Mostardi et al, , 1978Polimeni, Bose, Bose, Otten, & Ottenbreit, 1988;Polimeni & Ottenbreit, 1989;Polimeni, Ottenbreit, & Coleman, 1985;Polimeni et al, 1979;Sawchuk, Unthank, & Dalsing, 1999;Unthank, Lalka, Nixon, & Sawchuk, 1992). Nanomolar concentrations of these polymers caused an increase in arterial blood flow and a decrease in both blood pressure and peripheral vascular resistance with no effect on blood viscosity (Coleman et al, 1987;Greene et al, 1971;Grigorian & Kameneva, 1990;Kameneva & Parfenov, 1986;Polimeni et al, 1979Polimeni et al, , 1985Polimeni, Bose, Bose, Otten, & Ottenbreit, 1988;Polimeni & Ottenbreit, 1989).…”

“…Interestingly, the first in vitro (Greene, Nokes, & Thomas, 1970Hoyt, 1971;Stein, Parsons, & Blick, 1972) and in vivo (Greene, Thomas, Mostardi, & Nokes, 1974;Mostardi, Greene, Nokes, Thomas, & Lue, 1976) studies of the DRP effects on blood circulation were initiated and performed by chemical or mechanical engineers and physicists who most likely were not aware that the Reynolds numbers in the cardiovascular system were too low for DRP to generate Toms phenomenon (especially, in small animals which were mostly used in those studies). Injections or infusions of minute concentrations of various synthetic and natural DRPs in the blood circulation resulted in improvements of macro and microcirculation in a variety of pathological states and species such as a decrease in blood pressure in rats with induced hypertension (Grigorian & Kameneva, 1990;, an increase in the density of functioning capillaries in diabetic animals (Golub, Grigorian, Kameneva, Malkina, & Shoshenko, 1987), an increase in the myocardial perfusion and the animal survival after induced myocardial infarction (Pacella, Kameneva, & Villanueva, 2009;Pacella et al, 2006;Sakai, Repko, Griffith, Waters, & Kameneva, 2007), significant increase in the survival rate after exposure to lethal hemorrhage (Cotoia, Kameneva, Marascalco, Fink, & Delude, 2009;Dubick et al, 2008;Kameneva et al, 2004;Macias, Kameneva, Tenhunen, Puyana, & Fink, 2004), and many others.…”

Applications of Water-Soluble Polymers in Turbulent Drag Reduction

“…The use of biocompatible polymeric DR additives in biomedical areas has also been extensively studied [114], and blood-soluble drag reducing polymers have been demonstrated to influence the hydrodynamics in the blood flow of animals when injected intravenously at very low polymer concentration. Many experiments with intravenous drag reduction polymers showed positive hemorheological effects in several animal systems [115][116][117].…”

A review on drag reduction with special reference to micellar systems

“…In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using drag reducing additives as possible circulation aids for diseases such as arteriosclerosis and coronary thrombosis during which the blood flow is turbulent [340][341][342]. Hoyt and White [128] have suggested that poly(ethylene oxide) with plasma and dextran can be used to reduce the pressure drop in cardiovascular systems, provided, of course, they have no adverse physiological effects.…”