PNNL

Abstract

The percentages of total air?ows over the nasal respiratory and olfactory epithelium of female rabbits were cal-culated from computational ?uid dynamics (CFD) simulations of steady-state inhalation. These air?ow calcula-tions, along with nasal airway geometry determinations, are critical parameters for hybrid CFD/physiologically based pharmacokinetic models that describe the nasal dosimetry of water-soluble or reactive gases and vapors in rabbits. CFD simulations were based upon three-dimensional computational meshes derived from magnetic resonance images of three adult female New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. In the anterior portion of the nose, the maxillary turbinates of rabbits are considerably more complex than comparable regions in rats, mice, mon-keys, or humans. This leads to a greater surface area to volume ratio in this region and thus the potential for increased extraction of water soluble or reactive gases and vapors in the anterior portion of the nose compared to many other species. Although there was considerable interanimal variability in the ?ne structures of the nasal turbinates and air?ows in the anterior portions of the nose, there was remarkable consistency between rabbits in the percentage of total inspired air?ows that reached the ethmoid turbinate region (~50%) that is presumably lined with olfactory epithelium. These latter results (air?ows reaching the ethmoid turbinate region) were higher than previous published estimates for the male F344 rat (19%) and human (7%). These di?erences in regional air?ows can have signi?cant implications in interspecies extrapolations of nasal dosimetry.