digitoxin

[dij-i-tok-sin]

digitoxin: see digitalis.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside. It has similar structure and effects to digoxin (though the effects are longer-lasting). Unlike digoxin (which is eliminated from the body via the kidneys), it is eliminated via the liver, so could be used in patients with poor or erratic kidney function. However, it is now rarely used in current UK medical practice. While there have been several controlled trials which have shown digoxin to be effective in a proportion of patients treated for heart failure, there is not the same strong evidence base for digitoxin, although it is presumed to be similarly effective.

Toxicity

Digitoxin exhibits similar toxic effects to the more-commonly used digoxin, namely: anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, confusion, visual disturbances, and cardiac arrhythmias. Anti-digoxin antibody fragments, the specific treatment for digoxin poisoning, are also effective in serious digitoxin toxicity.

References

External links

"Comparing the Toxicity of Digoxin and Digitoxin in a Geriatric Population: Should an Old Drug Be Rediscovered?"
Johansson S, Lindholm P, Gullbo J, Larsson R, Bohlin L, Claeson P (2001). "Cytotoxicity of digitoxin and related cardiac glycosides in human tumor cells". Anticancer Drugs 12 (5): 475–83.
Hippius M, Humaid B, Sicker T, Hoffmann A, Göttler M, Hasford J (2001). "Adverse drug reaction monitoring--digitoxin overdosage in the elderly". Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 39 (8): 336–43.
Belz G, Breithaupt-Grögler K, Osowski U "Treatment of congestive heart failure--current status of use of digitoxin". Eur J Clin Invest 31 Suppl 2 10–7.
Haux J, Klepp O, Spigset O, Tretli S (2001). "Digitoxin medication and cancer; case control and internal dose-response studies". BMC Cancer 1 11.
Srivastava M, Eidelman O, Zhang J, Paweletz C, Caohuy H, Yang Q, Jacobson K, Heldman E, Huang W, Jozwik C, Pollard B, Pollard H (2004). "Digitoxin mimics gene therapy with CFTR and suppresses hypersecretion of IL-8 from cystic fibrosis lung epithelial cells". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101 (20): 7693–8.

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/search/ProductDetail/SIGMA/D5878

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday July 23, 2008 at 13:01:56 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation