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Diffusion through pig gastric mucin : Effect of relative humidity

Runnsjö, Anna ; Dabkowska, Aleksandra P. LU ; Sparr, Emma LU ; Kocherbitov, Vitaly LU ; Arnebrant, Thomas and Engblom, Johan (2016) In PLoS ONE 11(6).
Abstract

Mucus covers the epithelium found in all intestinal tracts, where it serves as an important protecting barrier, and pharmaceutical drugs administrated by the oral, rectal, vaginal, ocular, or nasal route need to penetrate the mucus in order to reach their targets. Furthermore, the diffusion in mucus as well as the viscosity of mucus in the eyes, nose and throat can change depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. In this study we have investigated how diffusion through gels of mucin, the main protein in mucus, is affected by changes in ambient relative humidity (i.e. water activity). Already a small decrease in water activity was found to give rise to a significant decrease in penetration rate through the mucin gel of... (More)

Mucus covers the epithelium found in all intestinal tracts, where it serves as an important protecting barrier, and pharmaceutical drugs administrated by the oral, rectal, vaginal, ocular, or nasal route need to penetrate the mucus in order to reach their targets. Furthermore, the diffusion in mucus as well as the viscosity of mucus in the eyes, nose and throat can change depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. In this study we have investigated how diffusion through gels of mucin, the main protein in mucus, is affected by changes in ambient relative humidity (i.e. water activity). Already a small decrease in water activity was found to give rise to a significant decrease in penetration rate through the mucin gel of the antibacterial drug metronidazole. We also show that a decrease in water activity leads to decreased diffusion rate in the mucin gel for the fluorophore fluorescein. This study shows that it is possible to alter transport rates of molecules through mucus by changing the water activity in the gel. It furthermore illustrates the importance of considering effects of the water activity in the mucosa during development of potential pharmaceuticals.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
11
issue
6
article number
e0157596
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84976523342
  • pmid:27336158
  • wos:000378389200024
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0157596
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dfca2356-1f83-4b33-9f65-602505b0b477
date added to LUP
2016-07-18 08:40:30
date last changed
2024-04-05 03:55:29
@article{dfca2356-1f83-4b33-9f65-602505b0b477,
  abstract     = {{<p>Mucus covers the epithelium found in all intestinal tracts, where it serves as an important protecting barrier, and pharmaceutical drugs administrated by the oral, rectal, vaginal, ocular, or nasal route need to penetrate the mucus in order to reach their targets. Furthermore, the diffusion in mucus as well as the viscosity of mucus in the eyes, nose and throat can change depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. In this study we have investigated how diffusion through gels of mucin, the main protein in mucus, is affected by changes in ambient relative humidity (i.e. water activity). Already a small decrease in water activity was found to give rise to a significant decrease in penetration rate through the mucin gel of the antibacterial drug metronidazole. We also show that a decrease in water activity leads to decreased diffusion rate in the mucin gel for the fluorophore fluorescein. This study shows that it is possible to alter transport rates of molecules through mucus by changing the water activity in the gel. It furthermore illustrates the importance of considering effects of the water activity in the mucosa during development of potential pharmaceuticals.</p>}},
  author       = {{Runnsjö, Anna and Dabkowska, Aleksandra P. and Sparr, Emma and Kocherbitov, Vitaly and Arnebrant, Thomas and Engblom, Johan}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{6}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Diffusion through pig gastric mucin : Effect of relative humidity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157596}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0157596}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}