Digitoxin

Digitoxin

Clinical data
Trade names	Digitaline
ATC code	C01AA04 (WHO)
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability	95% (Oral)
Metabolism	Liver
Biological half-life	5~7 days
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	71-63-6 Y
PubChem CID	441207
IUPHAR/BPS	6782
DrugBank	DB01396 N
ChemSpider	389987 N
UNII	E90NZP2L9U
KEGG	D00297 N
ChEBI	CHEBI:28544 N
ChEMBL	CHEMBL254219 N
ECHA InfoCard	100.000.691
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C41H64O13
Molar mass	764.939 g/mol
3D model (Jmol)	Interactive image
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?)

Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside. 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, so could be used in patients with poor or erratic kidney function. However, it is now rarely used in current Western medical practice. 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.

Digitoxin exhibits similar toxic effects to the more commonly used 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.

The first description of the use of foxglove dates back to 1775. 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.

Digitoxin is used as the murder weapon in Agatha Christie's Appointment with Death, Elizabeth Peters' Die For Love and CSI, season 9, episode 19: "The Descent of Man". Digitalis was also used as a poison in the James Bond film "Casino Royale" (2006) as well as in the episode "Uneasy Lies the Crown" on Columbo, season 9, episode 5 (1990), "Affair of the Heart" on McMillan and Wife, season 6, episode 5 (1977) and on Murder 101: "College can be a Murder". Also used in several episodes of Murder She Wrote.