Medications based on ergoline-derived dopamine and serotonin agonists are associated
with off-target toxicities that include valvular heart disease (VHD). Reports of drug-induced
VHD resulted in the withdrawal of appetite suppressants containing fenfluramine and
phentermine from the US market in 1997 and pergolide, a Parkinson's disease medication,
in 2007. Recent evidence suggests that serotonin receptor activity affected by these
medications modulates cardiac valve interstitial cell activation and subsequent valvular …