Interaction of digoxin and montmorillonite: mechanism of adsorption and degradation.

IR, X-ray diffraction, and absorption studies showed that digoxin is adsorbed onto montmorillonite by a reversible adsorption mechanism at pH 2 and 6. Degradation studies indicated abnormally high acid hydrolysis rates for digoxin interacted with montmorillonite. Accelerated digoxin degradation is attributed to the ability of the clay surface to concentrate both digoxin and protons. The effective pH at the clay surface appeared to be 1.5 pH unites lower than the bulk suspension pH. Bisdigoxigenin was the major adsorbed degradation product. A similar catalytic effect also may occur with other neutral drugs that degrade by acid hydrolysis and should be considered in the formulation of clay-containing drug products or their coadministration with other drugs.