title: Effect of the traditional Chinese medicines Chan Su, Lu-Shen-Wan, Dan Shen, and Asian ginseng on serum digoxin measurement by Tina-quant (Roche) and Synchron LX system (Beckman) digoxin immunoassays.
abstract: Chan Su, Lu-Shen-Wan, Dan Shen, and Asian ginseng are traditionally used to treat a number of conditions, including cardiovascular disease. All of these traditional Chinese medicines exhibit cardioactive properties. Digoxin is a cardioactive drug with a narrow therapeutic range (0.8-1.9 ng/mL). A patient taking digoxin may also take these Chinese medicines for their cardiotonic effects. Moreover, the active components of these medicines that are responsible for cardiotonic effects bear structural similarities to digoxin. Therefore, we studied the potential interference of these Chinese medicines with two digoxin immunoassays--the Tina-quant (Roche Diagnostics) and the Beckman (Synchron LX system)--and compared the values with the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA; Abbott Laboratories). When very small amounts (2-5 microL) of aqueous extract of Chan Su or Lu-Shen-Wan were added to drug-free serum, we observed high digoxin-like immunoreactivity with the FPIA. In contrast, when ethyl acetate extract of Dan Shen or microliter amounts of ginseng extract were added to drug-free serum, we observed modest digoxin-like immunoreactivity with the FPIA, but no apparent digoxin activity with the Roche and Beckman digoxin immunoassays. When aliquots of a digoxin pool prepared from patients receiving digoxin were supplemented with these Chinese medicines, we observed the most significant interference with the FPIA. The presence of endogenous digoxin-like immunoreactive substances can have additive effects with these Chinese medicines and falsely increase apparent digoxin levels by the FPIA. On the other hand, the Roche and Beckman assays were free from interference from DLIS but showed significant interference from Chan Su and Lu-Shen-Wan. We conclude that the FPIA showed the most significant interference from all four of the Chinese medicines we studied. However, the Roche and Beckman assays showed no interference from two (Dan Shen and Asian ginseng) of the four Chinese medicines we studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Myrtle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Amitava
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
mesh_terms: D002018:Bufanolides / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004077:Digoxin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000032:analysis* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002018:Bufanolides; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C095591:chan su; D004077:Digoxin