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Cholestyramine and spironolactone and their combination in digitoxin elimination
Author(s) -
Carruthers S George,
Dujovne Carlos A
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1038/clpt.1980.28
Subject(s) - digitoxin , cholestyramine , spironolactone , chemistry , pharmacology , endocrinology , medicine , digoxin , heart failure , cholesterol
The effects of oral cholestyramine 4 gm 8 times daily and spironolactone 300 mg daily, given independently and in combination, on the elimination rate of digitoxin were studied in 6 healthy subjects pretreated with 0.1 or 0.15 mg oral digitoxin daily for 30 days before each intervention. The mean pretreatment digitoxin concentrations for the group ranged from 21 ± 2.9 (SD) ng/ml to 28.5 ± 6.9 ng/ml. The mean control digitoxin half‐life (½) was reduced from 141.6 to 84.4 by treatment with cholestyramine alone. Treatment with spironolactone alone prolonged the mean digitoxin ½ to 192.2 hr. The mean digitoxin ½ after both active drugs was intermediate at 102.9 hr. Spironolactone did not fulfill the expectation from animal studies that it would enhance the clearance of digitoxin by cholestyramine. The prolongation of digitoxin elimination after spironolactone may contraindicate this drug in digitoxin intoxication. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1980) 27 , 184–187; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1980.28