Digoxin

Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside medication used to treat selected heart rhythm disorders and heart failure. It increases cardiac muscle contraction and slows electrical conduction through the atrioventricular node.

Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase: A membrane enzyme that uses ATP to move sodium out of cells and potassium into them. Digoxin inhibits this pump, initiating the changes in cardiac calcium and contraction.
Atrial fibrillation: A common arrhythmia in which disorganized atrial electrical activity produces an irregular heartbeat. Digoxin can slow ventricular response by reducing conduction through the atrioventricular node.
Digoxin toxicity: Harmful effects caused by excessive digoxin exposure or increased sensitivity to the drug. Its manifestations can include gastrointestinal symptoms, visual disturbances, and dangerous arrhythmias.
Digitalis purpurea: A foxglove species whose leaves contain cardiac glycosides, including compounds related to digoxin. Foxglove preparations provided the historical source of cardiac glycoside treatment.
Sodium-calcium exchanger: A membrane transporter that exchanges intracellular calcium for extracellular sodium. Inhibition of the sodium pump alters the sodium gradient that drives this exchanger.
Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: Heart failure in which the left ventricle ejects a reduced proportion of its filled blood volume. Digoxin may reduce hospitalizations in selected patients, but does not improve survival.
Digoxin immune Fab: Antibody fragments that bind digoxin and related cardiac glycosides in the blood. These fragments are used to treat life-threatening digoxin toxicity.
William Withering: An English physician who published a systematic account of foxglove’s medical use in 1785. His work established a landmark clinical description of foxglove therapy.
Atrioventricular node: A region of specialized cardiac tissue that conducts electrical impulses from the atria to the ventricles. Digoxin increases vagal influence, slowing conduction through this node.
Rate control: Treatment aimed at limiting the rate of ventricular contraction during an arrhythmia. Slowing atrioventricular conduction makes digoxin a rate-control option in some patients.

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