QSAR analysis of blood-brain distribution: the influence of plasma and brain tissue binding

The extent of brain delivery expressed as steady-state brain/blood distribution ratio (log BB) is the most frequently used parameter for characterizing central nervous system exposure of drugs and drug candidates. The aim of the current study was to propose a physicochemical QSAR model for log BB prediction. Model development involved the following steps: (i) A data set consisting of 470 experimental log BB values determined in rodents was compiled and verified to ensure that selected data represented drug disposition governed by passive diffusion across blood-brain barrier. (ii) Available log BB values were corrected for unbound fraction in plasma to separate the influence of drug binding to brain and plasma constituents. (iii) The resulting ratios of total brain to unbound plasma concentrations reflecting brain tissue binding were described by a nonlinear ionization-specific model in terms of octanol/water log P and pK(a). The results of internal and external validation demonstrated good predictive power of the obtained model as both log BB and brain tissue binding strength were predicted with residual mean square error of 0.4 log units. The statistical parameters were similar among training and validation sets, indicating that the model is not likely to be overfitted.