Abstract
The present study predicts effective doses of a set of phenethylamine (PEA) analogues that are frequently present in pre-workout and weight-loss food supplements, to prioritize these compounds for further risk assessment. In vitro determined EC(50) values of PEA analogues for multiple human adrenergic receptor (ADR) subtypes (ADRα(1A), α(1B), α(1D), α(2A), β(1), β(2)) and trace-amine associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) were extrapolated to human ED(50) values by using physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling-based reverse dosimetry combined with in silico and in vitro determined PBK model input parameters. The predicted ED(50) values of the studied PEAs for activation of ADRα(1A/B/D), ADRα(2A), ADRβ(1) and TAAR1 were within a range of 0.914-29.7 mg/kg body weight (bw), 139-234 mg/kg bw, 0.0839-38.8 mg/kg bw and 0.995-264 mg/kg bw, respectively. Comparison of the predicted ED(50) values with reported intake values revealed that particularly the exposure of the PEA analogues higenamine, isopropyloctopamine, β-methylphenethylamine and p-synephrine is in the same range or exceeds the predicted ED(50) values. This suggests that these PEAs can (in)directly affect the cardiovascular system after the intake of food supplements. These PEA analogues should therefore be considered as high priority compounds for further risk assessment. In conclusion, our study shows that the use of quantitative in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation (QIVIVE) of adrenergic and TAAR1 potencies using a generic PBK model can serve as an efficient prioritization method for a whole set of chemical analogues.