Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model for 2,4-dinitrophenol

New approaches in drug development are needed to address the growing epidemic of obesity as the prevalence of obesity increases worldwide. 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) is an oxidative phosphorylation uncoupling agent that was widely used in the early 1930s for weight loss but was quickly banned by the FDA due to the severe toxicities associated with the compound. One of the limitations leading to the demise of DNP as a pharmaceutical was a lack of understanding about the pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic relationship. The purpose of this study was to investigate whole body disposition of DNP in order to understand the relationship between the pharmacokinetics, efficacy and toxicity in the C57BL/6J diet induced obese mouse model. Following intravenous administration of 1 mg/kg, and intraperitoneal administration of 5 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg of DNP, we found limited DNP distribution to tissues. Experimentally measured partition coefficients were found to be less than 1 for all analyzed tissues. In addition, DNP exhibits significant nonlinear pharmacokinetics, which we have attributed to nonlinear plasma protein binding and nonlinear partitioning into liver and kidney. By enhancing our understanding of the PK–PD relationship, we can develop new approaches to leverage oxidative phosphorylation uncoupling as a weight loss strategy.