Possible Interaction: Digoxin and Progesterone

“ DG and digitoxin (DT), but not ouabain, inhibit the progesterone , pregnenolone, and corticosterone secretion by rat granulosa cells, luteal cells, and zona fasciculata‐reticularis (ZFR) cells, respectively.”

“ Digoxin or digitoxin, but not ouabain, decreased the basal and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)‐stimulated progesterone secretion as well as the activity of cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc) in luteal cells.”

“In conclusion, digoxin or digitoxin decreased progesterone production via the inhibition of pregnenolone by decreasing P450scc activity.”

“Moreover, in testicular interstitial and luteal cells, progesterone partially attenuated the reduction of pregnenolone by digoxin or digitoxin and the progesterone antagonist, RU486, blocked this attenuation.”

“ Progesterone , an EDLH, could antagonize the effects of digoxin or digitoxin in luteal cells.”

“These new findings indicated that (1) digoxin or digitoxin inhibited pregnenolone production by decreasing the activity of P450scc enzyme, but not …+‐ATPase, resulting in a decrease on progesterone secretion in rat luteal cells, and (2) the inhibitory effect on pregnenolone production by digoxin or digitoxin was … partially by progesterone.”

“ Digoxin (10−7 – 10−5 M) or digitoxin (10−7 – 10−5 M) decreased the basal and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)‐stimulated release of progesterone from rat granulosa cells.”

“The present results suggest that digoxin and digitoxin decrease the progesterone release by granulosa cells via a Na+,K+‐ATPase‐independent mechanism involving the inhibition of post‐cyclic AMP pathway, cytochrome P450scc and StAR protein functions.”

“In the presence of progesterone (200 to 300 mg/l), digitoxin and digoxin accumulation was enhanced by 9.1- and 11.9-folds respectively.”