Possible Interaction: Digoxin and Potassium

“At a work load of 75 W the highest level of serum digoxin was associated with a significantly higher maximum plasma potassium concentration as compared to the maximum valueatazero serum digoxin.”

“MLMs usually represent either rules that can be encoded, such as generating a warning that the potassium concentration is decreasing in a patient taking digoxin , or complex decision trees for individual patient care plans and clinical protocols.”

“This is likely to reflect a reduced capacity of skeletal muscle Na/K-ATPase for active potassium uptake because of inhibition by digoxin , adding to the reduction of skeletal muscle Na/K-ATPase concentration induced by heart failure per se.”

“Within weeks, the patient’s potassium level increases thereby reducing the digoxin ’s effectiveness, and the patient is admitted to an emergency room with complaints of chest pains and shortness of breath.”

“ Digoxin may exacerbate the loss of intracellular potassium.”

“ Digoxin administration to 6 volunteers for 7 days was associated with a small but significant decrease in total body (90 mmol) and erythrocyte potassium (4.8 mmol/kg cells).”

“There was a positive correlation between serum digoxin and potassium level amongst toxic patients (p less than 0.001).”

“ Digoxin (10(-6)M) also increased the maximum response to noradrenaline and potassium in both arteries and veins.”

“It is concluded that digoxin increases the tension in pulmonary arteries and veins, and increases the maximum response to noradrenaline and potassium in both types of vessels.”

“After pretreatment with digoxin (1 micronM), a potassium change from 4.6 to 1.15 mM caused relaxation and all concentrations exceeding 4.6 mM produced contraction.”

“In the presence of digoxin , the maximum contractile responses to noradrenaline (18 microM) and potassium (127 mM) markedly increased, and the glycoside shifted the noradrenaline concentration-response curve to the left.”

“Peritoneal and haernodialysis are ineffective (Ackerman, 1967) and may aggravate digoxin toxicity by causing potassium loss (Doherty, 1968).”