Fenfluramine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fenfluramine
Systematic (IUPAC) name
N-ethyl-1-[3-(trifluoromethyl)-
phenyl]propan-2-amine
Identifiers
CAS number 458-24-2
ATC code A08AA02
PubChem 3337
DrugBank APRD00319
Chemical data
Formula C12H16F3N 
Mol. mass 231.257
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability  ?
Metabolism Hepatic
Half life 20 hours
Excretion Renal
Therapeutic considerations
Pregnancy cat.

? (United States)
 ? (Australia)

Legal status

Unscheduled, Withdrawn from market

Routes Oral

Fenfluramine is a drug that was part of the Fen-Phen anti-obesity medication (the other drug being phentermine). Also known as Pondimin, fenfluramine was introduced on the U.S. market in 1973. It is the racemic form of dexfenfluramine. It is designed to increase the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This depresses the central nervous system, regulating mood and appetite. The end result is a feeling of fullness and loss of appetite.

The drug was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 1997 after reports of heart valve disease and pulmonary hypertension, including a condition known as cardiac fibrosis.

The distinctive valvular abnormality seen with fenfluramine is a thickening of the leaflet and chordae tendinae. Roth (2007) suggested a mechanism by which fenfluramine damaged the valves. Heart valves also have serotonin receptors, which regulate their growth. He reported that fenfluramine and its active metabolite norfenfluramine stimulated the serotonin receptors 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). In particular norfenfluramine is a potent agonist (stimulant) of 5-HT2B receptors. These receptors are plentiful in human cardiac valves and appear to be essential for normal cardiac development. Roth suggested that the mechanism by which fenfluramine causes damage is through inappropriately stimulating the valve cells to divide. This valve damage is found in other drugs that act on 5-HT2B receptors.

  • Roth, B Drugs and Valvular Heart Disease. N Engl J Med 2007;356:6 PMID 17202450

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.