Metabolic effects and pharmacokinetics of intravenously administered dichloroacetate in humans

Dichloroacetate decreases plasma glucose, lactate, and alanine concentrations in normal and diabetic subjects, and lowers lactate concentrations and increases survival in animals with experimentally induced lactic acidosis. The relationship between these effects and plasma dichloroacetate concentrations have not been previously studied in man. Dichloroacetate (1-50 mg/kg) was infused over 30 min to 16 healthy subjects and plasma drug concentrations were followed by gas chromatography over the next 8 h. Peak plasma concentrations were linearly related to the dose (r = 0.98, p < 0.001) up to 30 mg/kg, above which 4 of 7 subjects had disproportionately high plasma drug concentrations. Nonlinear disposition was also indicated by the convex decreasing plasma elimination curves; levels declining less rapidly initially than later. At plasma concentrations below 10 micrograms/ml, elimination was monoexponential with a half-life of 32 +/- 11 min (mean +/- SD). Plasma drug clearance also decreased with doses greater than 20 mg/kg. Within 2 h of administration of the maximally effective dichloroacetate dose of 35 mg/kg, plasma lactate concentrations fell 75% below baseline and alanine fell 50% below baseline, while blood glucose was unaffected.