If the human body is compared to a city, then its sewer system is the lymphatic system. But while sewer systems in our cities are mapped and monitored, our body’s lymphatic system remains a puzzle.

Now, this scenario is set to change.

Dr. James Moore, a professor and researcher in Texas A&M University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, said he plans to use a grant of $2 million from the National Institutes of Health to generate computational models of the lymphatic network.

Knowing how our lymphatic system works is important. The lymphatic system is made up of lymph vessels that carry lymph — a mixture of waste, harmful cells, and nutrients that have leaked out from tissues and blood vessels — uphill toward a point just under the shoulder. This area acts like a recycling plant, pumping useful proteins and water back into circulation and destroying pathogens and harmful cells.

When things go wrong with the lymphatic system, edema (or swelling) results because of fluid retention.  Edema is not lethal, but it is painful, and so far, there is no cure for it.

Lymph and blood circulate differently. We know that unlike blood, which flows through arteries and veins under pressure, lymph is pushed along by the pumping or contraction of the vessels it flows through.

The details of lymph flow, however, are unclear. How do often do lymph vessels contract? What is the stress exerted on the walls of these vessels as the viscous lymph flows through them? Why do lymph vessels in some tissues pump furiously, while in others the pumping is not as vigorous?

Moore said he hopes that his model of the lymphatic system will help answer these questions. Collaborating with Moore on this project are Dr. Dave Zawieja and Dr. Anatoliy Gashev, from the department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center, who are investigating lymph circulation. Dr. Gerard Coté, head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and holder of the Charles H. and Bettye Barclay Professorship in Engineering, is helping with instrumentation.

“No one has really studied the lymphatic system in modern times. What we know is dated; new studies using modern techniques are needed. We hope our model will provide a foundation for future studies of the lymphatic system,” Moore said.

Written by: Marissa Doshi

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