Dinitrophenol toxicity
Background
- Used in the manufacture of munitions, as a dye, a wood preserver, herbicide and photograph developer
- Can lead to unintentional exposures
- Discovered as a weight loss drug in 1930's but banned by FDA soon afterwards due to side effects
- Now banned in US and UK as weight loss drug, labeled "not fit for human consumption"
- Able to purchase DNP online in mass quantities[1]
- Typically used by body builders for weight loss
- Suicidal intentional ingestion
- Increase in number of deaths in recent years
Pharmacology
- Uncouples oxidative phosphorylation
- Allows increase in basal leak of protons (H+) accross the mitochondrial membrane which is dissipated as heat and leads to hyperthermia
- Stimulation of glycolysis in small doses
Clinical Features
Very narrow therapeutic window
- "Theraputic dose"
- Pruritic rash
- Yellow discoloration of skin, eyes, and urine (appears similar to jaundice)
- Peripheral neuropathy
- anorexia
- confusion
- cataracts
- deafness
- coma
- acute toxicity
- profuse diaphoresis
- hyperthermia
- tachypnia
- tachycardia
- convulsions
- shock/cardiovascular collapse
- PEA/death
Differential Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Management
Disposition
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ Grundlingh, Johann, Paul I. Dargan, Marwa El-Zanfaly, and David M. Wood. "2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP): A Weight Loss Agent with Significant Acute Toxicity and Risk of Death." Journal of Medical Toxicology J. Med. Toxicol. 7.3 (2011): 205-12. Web.