This may be the rat study he was referring to:
discoveryjournals.org
"Severe liver injury occurred after 2,4-DNP indicated by liver inflammatory cell infiltrations and pyknotic hepatocytes progressing as the dose increased to massive degenerative changes, fibrosis and ultimately focal coagulative necrosis. There were also increased liver collagen and mucopolysaccharide contents. In addition, 2,4-DNP caused marked increments in cleaved caspase-3 expression in the liver.
These results showed that high doses of the weight reducing agent 2,4- DNP can inflict serious liver injury as a consequence of uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and depletion of energy stores."
Oh, and please note the doses these rats were subjected to:
"Rats received intra peritoneal injections of 2,4-DNP (10, 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg)"
Side note about the "supposed" jaundice - from looking at some at some very old case studies (~1930's) they note yellowing of the skin/sweating yellow as an effect of the drug's color and was mistaken for jaundice.
From another oldie but a goodie:
"LIVER DAMAGE
Much has been made by some editorial writers and clinical reporters of the possibility that dinitrophenol might damage the liver. This has been based mainly on reasoning by analogy frompicric acid and other compounds. Since the dinitrophenol has a yellow color, which imparts an icteric tint to the blood plasma, it may be mistaken for the bile pigments of jaundice. The differentiation from the latter may be readily made by adding dilute hydrochloric acid to the plasma which decolorizes the dye. In one patient suspected of liver injury, Rabinowitch "found only a slight increase in the bilirubin in the blood and no change in the urobilinogen. At the next examination of this patient, the findings were all negative."
"We have seen no evidences of damage to the liver in our clinical cases, and at this time we may add more extensive data on this question."
