Therapeutic effects of Digitalis purpurea on cardiovascular system

Abstract

Cardiac glycosides have been widely utilized in the treatment of congestive heart failure since William Withering first described their use in his research on the efficacy of the leaves of the Digitalis purpurea (common foxglove plant) in the late 18th century. Despite being widely used in medical practice for the next 200 years, these classes of remedy' effectiveness and safety are still hotly contested issues. It is also debatable whether the sympatholytic or positive inotropic effects of these drugs are the mechanism most relevant to relieving cardiac failure symptoms in people with systolic ventricular dysfunction, despite the fact that their molecular target for action is the a-subunit of sarcolemma Na+ K+ -ATPase found on most eukaryotic cell membranes. In this article, we go through the clinical and molecular pharmacology of this venerable class of remedy, as well as the symptoms of Digitalis purpurea poisoning and how to manage them. The effectiveness of this remedy in treating cardiac failure is also reviewed in considerable depth, with an emphasis on the Digoxin Investigation Group data set. The use of Digitalis purpurea preparations will inevitably decline with the maturation of newer pharmacotherapies, even though, in our opinion, the data overall support their continued use for the care of cardiac failure symptoms in sufferers already taking modern multidrug therapy for this disease.