The Formation of Fibrillar Fibronectin Under the Effect of Abnormal Shear Rate Within a Stenosis Vessel

The coronary arteries are the important vessel that supply blood to the heart. Based on average human data collected from clinical reports, the three dimensions vessels with abnormal geometries were designed and analyzed with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. The 80% stenosis model was diagnosed, and data on shear rate and Wall shear stress (WSS) were measured in simulated environments. Next, plasma Fibronectin (FN) was exposed to two different flow rates, 10 ml/h and 3.8 ml/min corresponding to shear rates of 5 s−1 and 118 s−1, respectively in vitro to compare with the simulation data. The CFD results showed changes in shear rate, and WSS before and after the flow passed through the stenosis. The simulated data of the 80% stenosis model showed that the WSS at the stenosis area increased to 1 Pa, and the WSS at the post-stenosis area fluctuated rapidly between 0.3–0.6 Pa. The in vitro data confirmed the formation of FN under the change of shear rate and WSS. At the flow rate of 10 ml/h, the formation of FN showed small fibrils at the stenosis. On the other hand, a large matrix with a bundle of fibrils was observed at the flow rate of 3.8 ml/min. There was a direct correlation between vessel geometry, stenosis, and subsequence fluid dynamic changes. These fluctuations were hypothetically suspected as the leading cause of unfolding and activating the plasma FN within the solution. Further in vitro studies based on clinical experiments with different flow rate conditions are required to verify the results.