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illicit; approved; withdrawn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 However, following multiple concerns about the cardiovascular side-effects of the drug, such approval was withdrawn.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

Absorption

Well-absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.

Half Life

17-20 hours

Protein Binding

36%

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