-Dinitrophenol
2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP), C6H4N2O4, is a cellular metabolic poison. In uncouples oxidative phosphorylation by carrying electrons accross the mitrochondrial membrane, leading to a rapid consumption of energy without generation of ATP.
It was used in the 1930s in diet pills, since it promotes the metabolizing of carbohydrates and fats, the patient losing the energy as heat and causing dramatic weight loss over a relatively short time. However, there were concerns about carcinogenic mutations, as well as the risk of overdose leading to severe health risk and death, and this use was discontinued.
Today, DNP is used by bodybuilders, often illegally, to rapidly lose body fat before contests.
de:Dinitrophenol
Categories: Pharmacologic agents