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The effect of digoxin on the response to lithium therapy in mania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Catherine A. Chambers ,
Anne H. W. Smith  and
Graham J. Naylor
Catherine A. Chambers*
Affiliation:
Royal Dundee Luff Hospital, Dundee
Anne H. W. Smith
Affiliation:
Royal Dundee Luff Hospital, Dundee
Graham J. Naylor
Affiliation:
Royal Dundee Luff Hospital, Dundee
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr C. A. Chambers, Senior Registrar, Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, Dundee DD2 5NF.
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Synopsis

Patients suffering from manic-depressive psychosis, manic type (ICD 296·0), were treated with lithium carbonate and randomly allocated to two groups, one received digoxin and the other matching placebo for 7 days. Severity of mania was rated by psychiatrists on the Manic Rating Scale and Analogue Line on days 0 and 7 and by nurses daily on the Hargreaves Rating Scale, Psychotic Rating. Fourteen patients received digoxin and lithium carbonate and 14 patients received placebo and lithium carbonate. Improvement in the placebo lithium group was significantly greater than that in the digoxin lithium group. This trial suggests, therefore, that the effect of inhibition of membrane cation carrier is to reduce the response to lithium. This result is in keeping with our hypothesis that an increase in Na–K ATPase is essential to the therapeutic effect of lithium carbonate. It does not, however, exclude the possibility that the observations resulted from the inhibition by digoxin of lithium entry into the brain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1982 , pp. 57 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

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