A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of p,p'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone

The prediction of blood-tissue partitions, water-skin partitions and skin permeation for agrochemicals

BACKGROUND

There is considerable interest in the blood-tissue distribution of agrochemicals, and a number of researchers have developed experimental methods for in vitro distribution. These methods involve the determination of saline-blood and saline-tissue partitions; not only are they indirect, but they do not yield the required in vivo distribution.

RESULTS

The authors set out equations for gas-tissue and blood-tissue distribution, for partition from water into skin and for permeation from water through human skin. Together with Abraham descriptors for the agrochemicals, these equations can be used to predict values for all of these processes. The present predictions compare favourably with experimental in vivo blood-tissue distribution where available. The predictions require no more than simple arithmetic.

CONCLUSIONS

The present method represents a much easier and much more economic way of estimating blood-tissue partitions than the method that uses saline-blood and saline-tissue partitions. It has the added advantages of yielding the required in vivo partitions and being easily extended to the prediction of partition of agrochemicals from water into skin and permeation from water through skin.

Quantitative relationship between the octanol/water partition coefficient and the diffusion limitation of the exchange between adipose and blood

Background

The goal of physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) is to predict drug kinetics from an understanding of the organ/blood exchange. The standard approach is to assume that the organ is "flow limited" which means that the venous blood leaving the organ equilibrates with the well-stirred tissue compartment. Although this assumption is valid for most solutes, it has been shown to be incorrect for several very highly fat soluble compounds which appear to be "diffusion limited". This paper describes the physical basis of this adipose diffusion limitation and its quantitative dependence on the blood/water (K_bld-wat) and octanol/water (K_ow) partition coefficient.

Methods

Experimental measurements of the time dependent rat blood and adipose concentration following either intravenous or oral input were used to estimate the "apparent" adipose perfusion rate (F_A) assuming that the tissue is flow limited. It is shown that the ratio of F_A to the anatomic perfusion rate (F) provides a measure of the diffusion limitation. A quantitative relationship between this diffusion limitation and K_bld-wat and K_ow is derived. This analysis was applied to previously published data, including the Oberg et. al. measurements of the rat plasma and adipose tissue concentration following an oral dose of a mixture of 13 different polychlorinated biphenyls.

Results

Solutes become diffusion limited at values of log K_ow greater than about 5.6, with the adipose-blood exchange rate reduced by a factor of about 30 for a solute with a log K_ow of 7.36. Quantitatively, a plot of F_A/F versus K_ow is well described assuming an adipose permeability-surface area product (PS) of 750/min. This PS corresponds to a 0.14 micron aqueous layer separating the well-stirred blood from the adipose lipid. This is approximately equal to the thickness of the rat adipose capillary endothelium.

Conclusions

These results can be used to quantitate the adipose-blood diffusion limitation as a function of K_ow. This is especially important for the highly fat soluble persistent organic chemicals (e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins) whose pharmacokinetics are primarily determined by the adipose-blood exchange kinetics.

Air to fat and blood to fat distribution of volatile organic compounds and drugs: Linear free energy analyses

Partition coefficients, K(fat), from air to human fat and to rat fat have been collected for 129 volatile organic compounds, VOCs. A linear free energy relationship, LFER, correlates the 129 values of log K(fat) with R(2)=0.958 and a standard deviation, S.D., of 0.194 log units. Use of training and test sets gives a predictive assessment of around 0.20 log units. Combination of log K(fat) with our previously listed values of log K(blood) enables blood/plasma to fat partition coefficients, as log P(fat), to be obtained for 126 VOCs. These values can be correlated with R(2)=0.847, S.D.=0.304 log units; the latter is also our assessment of the predictive capability of the LFER. Values of log P(fat) have been collected for 46 drugs, and can be fitted to an LFER with R(2)=0.811 and S.D.=0.355 log units. Unlike partition into brain or muscle, the data for VOCs and drugs cannot be combined. There are marked discrepancies for PCBs for which partition from blood/plasma into fat is very much less than that calculated from the data on VOCs or from the data on drugs.

Framework for evaluation of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models for use in safety or risk assessment

Proposed applications of increasingly sophisticated biologically-based computational models, such as physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models, raise the issue of how to evaluate whether the models are adequate for proposed uses, including safety or risk assessment. A six-step process for model evaluation is described. It relies on multidisciplinary expertise to address the biological, toxicological, mathematical, statistical, and risk assessment aspects of the modeling and its application. The first step is to have a clear definition of the purpose(s) of the model in the particular assessment; this provides critical perspectives on all subsequent steps. The second step is to evaluate the biological characterization described by the model structure based on the intended uses of the model and available information on the compound being modeled or related compounds. The next two steps review the mathematical equations used to describe the biology and their implementation in an appropriate computer program. At this point, the values selected for the model parameters (i.e., model calibration) must be evaluated. Thus, the fifth step is a combination of evaluating the model parameterization and calibration against data and evaluating the uncertainty in the model outputs. The final step is to evaluate specialized analyses that were done using the model, such as modeling of population distributions of parameters leading to population estimates for model outcomes or inclusion of early pharmacodynamic events. The process also helps to define the kinds of documentation that would be needed for a model to facilitate its evaluation and implementation.

Toxicity characterization of environmental chemicals by the US National Toxicology Program: an overview

The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) is an interagency program whose mission is to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying the tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology. Chemicals substances or physical agents selected for toxicology and carcinogenesis evaluations by the NTP are usually studied in a series of subacute (14-day exposure), subchronic (90-day exposure) and chronic (2-year exposure) studies in rodents. The NTP has published more than 500 reports of the findings and conclusions from its toxicology and carcinogenesis studies. In more specialized studies, the NTP also evaluates adverse effects on the structure and function of the immune, reproductive, nervous, and respiratory systems. The program attempts to evaluate and appropriately incorporate new technologies to improve the way we study the toxicity of chemicals. For example, the program has extensively evaluated several transgenic mouse models for their potential use as short-term cancer screens and has been a full participant in an international effort to examine their usefulness in pharmaceutical registration. Toxicogenomics, an emerging scientific field that examines the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously in response to chemical exposure, holds promise for future application to better understand the underlying mechanisms of chemical toxicity. A number of public health issues being addressed by the NTP are not only of national importance but also have global impact, such as the potential for endocrine disruptors to influence development and carcinogenesis and the safety of herbal medicines and dietary supplements. The program participates in the preparation of national and international toxicity testing guidelines and the findings from NTP studies are widely used for risk assessments by international organizations and federal agencies. The NTP maintains databases that contain toxicity, and health and safety information on a large number of chemicals. These databases are available from the NTP web site (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov) and are accessed over 100000 times a month from around the world.