Abstract
Shear stress plays an important role in the creation and evolution of atherosclerosis. An key element for in-vivo measurements and extrapolations is the dependence of shear stress on body mass. In the case of a Poiseuille modeling of the blood flow, P. Weinberg and C. Ethier have shown that shear stress on the aortic endothelium varies like body mass to the power , and is therefore 20-fold higher in mice than in men. However, by considering a more physiological oscillating Poiseuille + Womersley combinated flow in the aorta, we show that results differ notably: at larger masses () shear stress varies as body mass to the power −18 and modifies the man to mouse ratio to 1:8. The allometry and values of temporal gradient of shear stress also change: varies as instead of at larger masses, and the 1:150 ratio from man to mouse becomes 1:61. Lastly, we show that the unsteady component of blood flow does not influence the constant allometry of peak velocity on body mass: . This work extends our knowledge on the dependence of hemodynamic parameters on body mass and paves the way for a more precise extrapolation of in-vivo measurements to humans and bigger mammals.
Ph.D Student in Biostatistics
Biostatistics Ph.D Student with strong interest in anything ‘omics related.