Endogenous Digitalis-like Factors

Recent research has demonstrated the presence of endogenous compounds in blood and urine that crossreact with antibodies raised against digoxin. Given the widespread therapeutic use of digoxin and its being monitored clinically by immunoassay, such digoxin-like immunoreactive compounds pose significant diagnostic and interpretive problems. Serum levels of this factor(s) approaching therapeutic digoxin levels have been found in digoxin-free patients in renal failure, pregnant women, and newborns. The compound is incompletely characterized; however, existing data suggest that it is a small, neutral, nonpeptidic compound. In serum it is highly protein bound, and alterations in this binding appear to give rise to the false-positive assay results. The urinary form is probably conjugated. Digoxin-like immunoreactive substances may play a role in volume homeostasis and appear associated with essential and pregnancy-induced hypertension. If such roles are primary, measurement of digoxin-like immunoreactive substances may prove to be of value in and of itself.