Numerical simulation of distribution of neutrophils in a lattice alveolar capillary network

Neutrophils are known to be retained in narrow pulmonary capillaries, even in normal lungs, due to their low deformability, resulting in a higher concentration than that in systemic circulation. In this study, to obtain a fundamental understanding of the behavior of neutrophils, we simplified an alveolar capillary network to a rectangular grid of short capillary segments and numerically investigated the flow of a suspension of neutrophils and plasma through the capillary network for various concentrations of the suspension, C_sus, injected into the network. The cells traveled limited preferential paths in the network while C_sus was low. Retention of a cell or cells induced plugging of the segment with a cessation of blood flow, and as the result of the changed plasma flow field caused by such plugging, the cells took various routes differing from the preferential paths. A low incidence of plugging helped to accelerate the cells flowing in the network with tight segments, resulting in a decrease in their mean transit time through the network as compared with the case of a single-cell transit. On the contrary, however, an increasing incidence of plugging induced backward motion of the cells and a resultant increase in the mean transit time. The time-averaged number of cells in the network increased with the increase in C_sus, and the fractional residence time of cells in individual segments approached a constant. This means that a high concentration of neutrophils facilitates their uniform distribution in the network. However, the ratio between the time-averaged concentration of the cells in the network and C_sus decreased and our numerical simulation did not reach the experimentally obtained value. This implies that, in a real alveolar capillary bed, plasma leaks through the plugged segments or that the capillary network has bypasses through which the plasma can flow.