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| Fenfluramine | Serotoninergic |
| Phentermine | Adrenergic, dopaminergic, serotoninergic |
| Clinical data | |
| Routes of administration | Oral |
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The drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, usually called fen-phen, is an anti-obesity medication that is no longer widely available. It was sold in the early 1990s, and utilized two anorectics. Fenfluramine was marketed by American Home Products (later known as Wyeth) as Pondimin, but was shown to cause potentially fatal pulmonary hypertension and heart valve problems, which eventually led to its withdrawal in 1997 and legal damages of over $13 billion.[1] Phentermine was not shown to have harmful effects.[1]
Fenfluramine acts as a serotonin releasing agent,[2] phentermine as primarily a norepinephrine releasing agent. Phentermine also induces the release of serotonin and dopamine, although to a far lesser extent than it induces the release of norepinephrine.[3]
- ^ a b Avorn J. (2004). Powerful Medicines, pp. 71-84. Alfred A. Knopf.
- ^ Nestler, Eric J. "Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience" McGraw-Hill, 2001.
- ^ Rothman RB, Baumann MH, Dersch CM, Romero DV, Rice KC, Carroll FI, Partilla JS (January 2001). "Amphetamine-type central nervous system stimulants release norepinephrine more potently than they release dopamine and serotonin". Synapse. 39 (1): 32–41. doi:10.1002/1098-2396(20010101)39:1<32::AID-SYN5>3.0.CO;2-3. PMID 11071707. S2CID 15573624.