Digitoxin

Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside used for the treatment of heart failure and certain kinds of heart arrhythmia. It is a phytosteroid and is similar in 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, and so can be used in patients with poor or erratic kidney function. While several controlled trials have shown digoxin to be effective in a proportion of patients treated for heart failure, the evidence base for digitoxin is not as strong, although it is presumed to be similarly effective.[1]

Not to be confused with Digoxin.
Digitoxin
Clinical data
Trade namesDigitaline, Digitmerck, others
Routes of
administration		By mouth, Intravenous injection
ATC code
Legal status
Legal status
  • In general: ℞ (Prescription only)
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability98–100% (oral)
Protein binding90–97%
MetabolismLiver (CYP3A4)
Elimination half-life7–8 days
Excretion60% via urine, 40% via faeces
Identifiers
IUPAC name
  • (3β,5β)-3-[(O-2,6-dideoxy-
    β-D-ribo-hexapyranosyl-(1->4)-
    2,6-dideoxy-β-D-ribo-hexopyranosyl)oxy]-
    14-hydroxycard-20(22)-enolide
CAS Number
PubChem CID
IUPHAR/BPS
DrugBank
ChemSpider
UNII
KEGG
ChEBI
ChEMBL
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
ECHA InfoCard100.000.691
Chemical and physical data
FormulaC41H64O13
Molar mass764.950 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)
SMILES
  • O=C\1OC/C(=C/1)[C@H]2CC[C@@]8(O)[C@]2(C)CC[C@H]7[C@H]8CC[C@H]6[C@]7(C)CC[C@H](O[C@@H]5O[C@H](C)[C@@H](O[C@@H]4O[C@@H]([C@@H](O[C@@H]3O[C@@H]([C@@H](O)[C@@H](O)C3)C)[C@@H](O)C4)C)[C@@H](O)C5)C6
InChI
  • InChI=1S/C41H64O13/c1-20-36(46)29(42)16-34(49-20)53-38-22(3)51-35(18-31(38)44)54-37-21(2)50-33(17-30(37)43)52-25-8-11-39(4)24(15-25)6-7-28-27(39)9-12-40(5)26(10-13-41(28,40)47)23-14-32(45)48-19-23/h14,20-22,24-31,33-38,42-44,46-47H,6-13,15-19H2,1-5H3/t20-,21-,22-,24-,25+,26-,27+,28-,29+,30+,31+,33+,34+,35+,36-,37-,38-,39+,40-,41+/m1/s1 N
  • Key:WDJUZGPOPHTGOT-XUDUSOBPSA-N N
 NY (what is this?)  (verify)

Medical uses

Digitoxin is used for the treatment of heart failure, especially in people with impaired kidney function. It is also used to treat certain kinds of heart arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation.[2][3]

Contraindications

Contraindications include[3]

Adverse effects and toxicity

Digitoxin exhibits similar toxic effects to digoxin, namely: anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, visual disturbances, and cardiac arrhythmias. Antidigoxin antibody fragments, the specific treatment for digoxin poisoning, are also effective in serious digitoxin toxicity.[4]

Interactions

Drugs that can increase digitoxin toxicity include:[3]

Drugs that can decrease the effectivity of digitoxin include:[3]

Pharmacology

Mechanism of action
Main article: Cardiac glycoside § Mechanism of action

Digitoxin inhibits the sodium-potassium ATPase in heart muscle cells, resulting in increased force of contractions (positive inotropic), reduced speed of electric conduction (negative dromotropic), increased excitability (positive bathmotropic), and reduced frequency of heartbeat (negative chronotropic).[3]

Pharmacokinetics

The drug is almost completely absorbed from the gut. When in the bloodstream, 90 to 97% are bound to plasma proteins. Digitoxin undergoes enterohepatic circulation. It is metabolized in part by CYP3A4; metabolites include digitoxigenin, digoxin (>2%), and conjugate esters. In healthy people, 60% are eliminated via the kidneys and 40% via the faeces. In people with impaired kidney function, elimination via the faeces is increased. The biological half-life is 7 to 8 days except when kidney and liver functions are impaired, in which case it is usually longer.[3][5]

History

The first description of the use of foxglove dates back to 1775.[6] For quite some time, the active compound was not isolated. Oswald Schmiedeberg was able to obtain a pure sample in 1875. The modern therapeutic use of this molecule was made possible by the works of the pharmacist and the French chemist Claude-Adolphe Nativelle (1812–1889). The first structural analysis was done by Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus in 1925, but the full structure with an exact determination of the sugar groups was not accomplished until 1962.[7][8]

Misuse

Marie Alexandrine Becker, a Belgian serial killer, was sentenced to death for poisoning eleven people with digitoxin.

In fiction

Digitoxin is used as a poison or murder weapon in:

  • Agatha Christie's Appointment with Death
  • Elizabeth Peters' Die For Love
  • CSI, season 9, episode 19: "The Descent of Man"
  • Rosewood season 2, episode 20: Calliphoridae and Country Roads
  • "Casino Royale" (2006)
  • "Uneasy Lies the Crown" on Columbo, season 9, episode 5 (1990)
  • "Affair of the Heart" on McMillan and Wife, season 6, episode 5 (1977)
  • Murder 101: "College can be a Murder"
  • Several episodes of Murder She Wrote.
  • Private Practice, season 4, episode 18: “The Hardest Part”

In The Decemberists's song, "The Rake's Song" on The Hazards of Love album, the narrator murders his daughter by feeding her foxglove.

Research

Digitoxin and related cardenolides display anticancer activity against a range of human cancer cell lines in vitro but the clinical use of digitoxin to treat cancer has been restricted by its narrow therapeutic index.[9][10] Digitoxin glycorandomization led to the discovery of novel digitoxigenin neoglycosides which displayed improved anticancer potency and reduced inotropic activity (the perceived mechanism of general toxicity).[11]

References
  1. Belz GG, Breithaupt-Grögler K, Osowski U (2001). "Treatment of congestive heart failure--current status of use of digitoxin". European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 31 Suppl 2 (Suppl 2): 10–7. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2362.2001.0310s2010.x. PMID 11525233. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05.
  2. Erland Erdmann, ed. (2013). Therapie mit Herzglykosiden (in German). Springer. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-642-69046-4.
  3. Haberfeld H, ed. (2021). Austria-Codex (in German). Vienna: Österreichischer Apothekerverlag. Digimerck 0,07 mg - Tabletten.
  4. Kurowski V, Iven H, Djonlagic H (1992). "Treatment of a patient with severe digitoxin intoxication by Fab fragments of anti-digitalis antibodies". Intensive Care Medicine. 18 (7): 439–42. doi:10.1007/BF01694351. PMID 1469187. S2CID 2324996.
  5. "mediQ: Digitoxin". Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  6. Withering W (1785). An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medical Uses: With Practical Remarks on Dropsy and other Diseases. Classics of Medicine Library.
  7. Diefenbach WC, Meneely JK (May 1949). "Digitoxin; a critical review". The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 21 (5): 421–31. PMC 2598854. PMID 18127991.
  8. Sneader W (2005). Drug discovery: A history. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-471-89980-8.
  9. Menger L, Vacchelli E, Kepp O, Eggermont A, Tartour E, Zitvogel L, et al. (February 2013). "Trial watch: Cardiac glycosides and cancer therapy". Oncoimmunology. 2 (2): e23082. doi:10.4161/onci.23082. PMC 3601180. PMID 23525565.
  10. Elbaz HA, Stueckle TA, Tse W, Rojanasakul Y, Dinu CZ (April 2012). "Digitoxin and its analogs as novel cancer therapeutics". Experimental Hematology & Oncology. 1 (1): 4. doi:10.1186/2162-3619-1-4. PMC 3506989. PMID 23210930.
  11. Langenhan JM, Peters NR, Guzei IA, Hoffmann FM, Thorson JS (August 2005). "Enhancing the anticancer properties of cardiac glycosides by neoglycorandomization". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (35): 12305–10. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10212305L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0503270102. PMC 1194917. PMID 16105948.

Further reading

Media related to Digitoxin at Wikimedia Commons

  • Comparing the Toxicity of Digoxin and Digitoxin in a Geriatric Population: Should an Old Drug Be Rediscovered? on Medscape (registration required), a convenience link from the original. (subscription required)
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