Biomaterial Database

Digoxin 1785-1985. I. Two hundred years of digitalis. 1986

O L Wade

This year we are celebrating the bicentenary of the publication, by William Withering, of An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medicinal Uses with Practical Remarks on Dropsy and Other Diseases (1). During these two hundred years digitalis has constantly been to the fore of medical thinking and it is appropriate that we should look back and examine the contributions which studies of this drug have made to medicine as we know it today. Some of the studies have been at the centre of fierce controversy and others have been of seminal importance in the development of new concepts.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010946	Plants, Medicinal	Plants whose roots, leaves, seeds, bark, or other constituent parts possess therapeutic, tonic, purgative, curative or other pharmacologic attributes, when administered to man or animals.	Herbs, Medicinal,Medicinal Herbs,Healing Plants,Medicinal Plants,Pharmaceutical Plants,Healing Plant,Herb, Medicinal,Medicinal Herb,Medicinal Plant,Pharmaceutical Plant,Plant, Healing,Plant, Medicinal,Plant, Pharmaceutical,Plants, Healing,Plants, Pharmaceutical
D010947	Plants, Toxic	Plants or plant parts which are harmful to man or other animals.	Plants, Poisonous,Plant, Poisonous,Plant, Toxic,Poisonous Plant,Poisonous Plants,Toxic Plant,Toxic Plants
D002301	Cardiac Glycosides	Cyclopentanophenanthrenes with a 5- or 6-membered lactone ring attached at the 17-position and SUGARS attached at the 3-position. Plants they come from have long been used in congestive heart failure. They increase the force of cardiac contraction without significantly affecting other parameters, but are very toxic at larger doses. Their mechanism of action usually involves inhibition of the NA(+)-K(+)-EXCHANGING ATPASE and they are often used in cell biological studies for that purpose.	Cardiac Glycoside,Cardiotonic Steroid,Cardiotonic Steroids,Glycoside, Cardiac,Glycosides, Cardiac,Steroid, Cardiotonic,Steroids, Cardiotonic
D004070	Digitalis	A genus of toxic herbaceous Eurasian plants of the Plantaginaceae which yield cardiotonic DIGITALIS GLYCOSIDES. The most useful species are Digitalis lanata and D. purpurea.	Foxglove,Common Foxglove,Digitalis lanata,Digitalis purpurea,Grecian Foxglove,Common Foxgloves,Foxglove, Common,Foxglove, Grecian,Foxgloves,Foxgloves, Common,Foxgloves, Grecian,Grecian Foxgloves
D004071	Digitalis Glycosides	Glycosides from plants of the genus DIGITALIS. Some of these are useful as cardiotonic and anti-arrhythmia agents. Included also are semi-synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring glycosides. The term has sometimes been used more broadly to include all CARDIAC GLYCOSIDES, but here is restricted to those related to Digitalis.	Glycosides, Digitalis
D004077	Digoxin	A cardiotonic glycoside obtained mainly from Digitalis lanata; it consists of three sugars and the aglycone DIGOXIGENIN. Digoxin has positive inotropic and negative chronotropic activity. It is used to control ventricular rate in ATRIAL FIBRILLATION and in the management of congestive heart failure with atrial fibrillation. Its use in congestive heart failure and sinus rhythm is less certain. The margin between toxic and therapeutic doses is small. (From Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p666)	Digacin,Digitek,Digoregen,Digoxina Boehringer,Digoxine Nativelle,Dilanacin,Hemigoxine Nativelle,Lanacordin,Lanicor,Lanoxicaps,Lanoxin,Lanoxin-PG,Lenoxin,Mapluxin,Boehringer, Digoxina,Lanoxin PG,Nativelle, Digoxine,Nativelle, Hemigoxine
D006321	Heart	The hollow, muscular organ that maintains the circulation of the blood.	Hearts
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001682	Biological Availability	The extent to which the active ingredient of a drug dosage form becomes available at the site of drug action or in a biological medium believed to reflect accessibility to a site of action.	Availability Equivalency,Bioavailability,Physiologic Availability,Availability, Biologic,Availability, Biological,Availability, Physiologic,Biologic Availability,Availabilities, Biologic,Availabilities, Biological,Availabilities, Physiologic,Availability Equivalencies,Bioavailabilities,Biologic Availabilities,Biological Availabilities,Equivalencies, Availability,Equivalency, Availability,Physiologic Availabilities
D049671	History, 18th Century	Time period from 1701 through 1800 of the common era.	18th Century History,18th Cent. History (Medicine),18th Cent. History of Medicine,18th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 18th Century,History of Medicine, 18th Cent.,History, Eighteenth Century,Medical History, 18th Cent.,Medicine, 18th Cent.,18th Century Histories,Cent. History, 18th (Medicine),Cent. Medicine, 18th,Century Histories, 18th,Century Histories, Eighteenth,Century History, 18th,Century History, Eighteenth,Eighteenth Century Histories,Eighteenth Century History,Histories, 18th Century,Histories, Eighteenth Century,History, 18th Cent. (Medicine)