Dexfenfluramine, marketed as dexfenfluramine hydrochloride under the name Redux, is a

serotonergic Serotonergic () or serotoninergic () means "pertaining to or affecting serotonin". Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. A synapse is serotonergic if it uses serotonin as its neurotransmitter. A serotonergic neuron ''produces'' serotonin. A substance is ...

anorectic An anorectic or anorexic is a drug which reduces appetite, resulting in lower food consumption, leading to weight loss. By contrast, an appetite stimulant is referred to as orexigenic. The term is (from the Greek ''ἀν-'' (an-) = "without" a ...

drug: it reduces appetite by increasing the amount of extracellular serotonin in the brain. It is the d- enantiomer of

fenfluramine Fenfluramine, sold under the brand name Fintepla, is a serotonergic medication used for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome and Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2022/212102s003lb ...

and is structurally similar to amphetamine, but lacks any psychologically stimulating effects. Dexfenfluramine was, for some years in the mid-1990s, approved by the United States

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

for the purposes of

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat ( adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other co ...

. However, following multiple concerns about the cardiovascular side-effects of the drug, the FDA withdrew the approval in 1997. After it was removed in the US, dexfenfluramine was also pulled out in other global markets. It was later superseded by

sibutramine Sibutramine, formerly sold under the brand name Meridia among others, is an appetite suppressant which has been discontinued in many countries. It works as a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor similar to a tricyclic antidepressant. Un ...

, which, although initially considered a safer alternative to both dexfenfluramine and

, was likewise removed from the US market in 2010. The drug was developed by Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, a company co-founded by Richard Wurtman, aimed at marketing discoveries by

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

scientists. Interneuron licensed the patent to Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. Although at the time of its release, some optimism prevailed that it might herald a new approach, there remained some reservations amongst neurologists, twenty-two of whom petitioned the FDA to delay approval. Their concern was based on the work of George A. Ricaurte, whose techniques and conclusions were later questioned.

References

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Drug description

* ttps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/interviews/lutwak.html Frontline: Dangerous prescriptions- Interview with Leo Lutwak, M.D. in which he discuses the side effects of fenfluramine, its successor Redux, and the

Fen-Phen The drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, usually called fen-phen, was an anti-obesity treatment in the early 1990s that utilized two anorectics. Fenfluramine was marketed by American Home Products (later known as Wyeth) as ''Pondimin'', bu ...

combination {{Phenethylamines 5-HT2B agonists Withdrawn drugs Serotonin receptor agonists Serotonin releasing agents Substituted amphetamines Enantiopure drugs Trifluoromethyl compounds Antiobesity drugs

See also

References

External links