Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27836940›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of general physiology2016

Spatial model of convective solute transport in brain extracellular space does not support a "glymphatic" mechanism.

Byung-Ju Jin, Alex J Smith, Alan S Verkman

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of general physiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
122citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
13.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

122 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 221 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. High frame ratebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Stretch and flow at the gliovascular interface: High-fidelity modeling of astrocyte endfeet.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Numerical simulation study of nanoparticle diffusion in gray matter.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2024
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Image-guided subject-specific modeling of glymphatic transport and amyloid deposition.Computer methods in applied mechanics and engineering · 2023
    Article

62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Byung-Ju JinDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143.
Alex J SmithDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143.
Alan S VerkmanDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 Alan.Verkman@ucsf.edu.
University of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

SynthesisP30DK072517 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 2005 to 2022
$18.1M
Functional Role of Aquaporins in Eye PhysiologyR01EY013574 · NEI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 2002 to 2022
$7.6M
MECHANISMS OF WATER TRANSPORT IN RENAL EPITHELIAR37DK035124 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 1999 to 2008
$4.2M
Application of Novel Optical Methods to Cell DynamicsR37EB000415 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 2007 to 2016
$4.1M
Application of Novel Optical Methods to Cell DynamicsR01EB000415 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 2002 to 2006
$1.7M
WATER AND NON-ELECTROLYTE TRANSPORT IN RENAL VESICLESR01DK035124 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI VERKMAN, ALAN S · 1986 to 2014
$1.4M
NEI NIH HHS R01 EY013574NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB000415NIBIB NIH HHS R37 EB000415NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK072517NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK035124NIDDK NIH HHS R37 DK035124
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A "glymphatic system," which involves convective fluid transport from para-arterial to paravenous cerebrospinal fluid through brain extracellular space (ECS), has been proposed to account for solute clearance in brain, and aquaporin-4 water channels in astrocyte endfeet may have a role in this process. Here, we investigate the major predictions of the glymphatic mechanism by modeling diffusive and convective transport in brain ECS and by solving the Navier-Stokes and convection-diffusion equations, using realistic ECS geometry for short-range transport between para-arterial and paravenous spaces. Major model parameters include para-arterial and paravenous pressures, ECS volume fraction, solute diffusion coefficient, and astrocyte foot-process water permeability. The model predicts solute accumulation and clearance from the ECS after a step change in solute concentration in para-arterial fluid. The principal and robust conclusions of the model are as follows: (a) significant convective transport requires a sustained pressure difference of several mmHg between the para-arterial and paravenous fluid and is not affected by pulsatile pressure fluctuations; (b) astrocyte endfoot water permeability does not substantially alter the rate of convective transport in ECS as the resistance to flow across endfeet is far greater than in the gaps surrounding them; and (c) diffusion (without convection) in the ECS is adequate to account for experimental transport studies in brain parenchyma. Therefore, our modeling results do not support a physiologically important role for local parenchymal convective flow in solute transport through brain ECS.

Indexed as

Models, BiologicalBrainComputer SimulationExtracellular SpaceIon TransportSolutionsSolutions

Identifiers

PMID27836940
PMCPMC5129742
OpenAlexW2554525706

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.