Abstract
Intraventricular (IVT) administration of digoxin (7.5 μg) induced ‘popcorn-type’ convulsions in rats. Though the convulsions looked similar to morphine-induced seizures, naloxone failed to antagonize these effects. Other anticonvulsants like phenobarbitone, ethosuximide, or GABAergic substances like piracetam and semicarbazide also had no protective effect against digoxin-induced convulsions. While calcium chloride potentiated these effects of digoxin, phenytoin, magnesium chloride, and potassium chloride treatment showed blocking actions. These observations suggest the involvement of Na/K-ATPase system in digoxin-induced convulsions. Clonidine and diazepam also provided protection against digoxin-induced convulsions through an unknown mechanism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Braestrup C, Nielsen M (1980) Benzodiazepine receptors. Arzneim Forsch 30:852–857
Braunwald E, Pool PE (1977) Pharmacologic treatment of cardiovascular disorders. In: Thorn GW, Adams RD, Braunwald E, Isselbacher KJ, Petersdorf RG (eds) Principles of internal medicine. McGraw Hill, Kogakusha, Tokyo, pp 1206–1210
Brown RH Jr, Cohen I, Noble D (1978) The interactions of protons, calcium and potassium ions on cardiac Purkinje fibres. J Physiol (Lond) 282:345–352
Dzoljic MR, Poel-Heisterkamp AL (1981) The effects of GABAergic drugs on enkephalin-induced motor seizure phenomena in the rat. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 8:141–150
Godfraind T, Lutete DT (1979) Inhibition by digoxin and SC 4453 of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase prepared from human heart, guinea pig heart and guinea pig brain. Eur J Pharmacol 60:329–336
Hoffman BF, Bigger JT Jr (1980) Digitalis and allied cardiac glycosides. In: Goodman LS, Gilman A (eds) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics. Macmillan, New York, pp 729–760
Kulkarni SK (1981) Actions of clonidine on convulsions and behaviour. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther 252:124–132
Kulkarni SK (1982) On the mechanism of intracerebroventricular morphine-induced convulsions in rats. In: Dhawan BN (ed) Current status of centrally acting peptides. Pergamon, New York, pp 121–125
Noble EP, Wurtman RT, Axelrod J (1964) A simple and rapid method for injecting 3H-norepinephrine into the lateral ventricle of the rat brain. Life Sci 6:281–291
Papanicolaou J, Summers RJ, Vajda FJE, Louis WJ (1982) Anticonvulsant effects of clonidine mediated through central α2-adrenoceptors. Eur J Pharmacol 77:163–166
Woodbury DM, Fingl E (1975) Drugs effective in the therapy of the epilepsies. In: Goodman LS, Gilman A (eds) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics. Macmillan, New York, pp 201–226
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kulkarni, S.K., Mehta, A.K. Possible mechanism of digoxin-induced convulsions. Psychopharmacology 79, 287–289 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427829
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427829