| Item |
Information |
|
Drug Groups
|
illicit; approved; withdrawn |
|
Description
|
Dexfenfluramine, also marketed under the name Redux, is a serotoninergic anorectic drug. It was for some years in the mid-1990s approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the purposes of weight loss. However, following multiple concerns about the cardiovascular side-effects of the drug, such approval was withdrawn. |
| Indication |
For the management of obesity including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss in patients on a reduced calorie diet |
| Pharmacology |
Used to treat diabetes and obesity, Dexfenfluramine decreases caloric intake by increasing serotonin levels in the brain’s synapses. Dexfenfluramine acts as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It also causes release of serotonin from the synaptosomes. |
| Toxicity |
Symptoms of overdose include respiratory failure and cardiac arrest leading to death. |
| Affected Organisms |
| • |
Humans and other mammals |
|
| Absorption |
Well-absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. |
| Half Life |
17-20 hours |
| Protein Binding |
36% |
| External Links |
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