Myocardial monovalent cation transport during the quinidine-digoxin interaction in dogs.

To study the relationship of the serum digoxin concentration to the digoxin effect on monovalent cation transport during the quinidine-digoxin interaction, we used radiolabeled rubidium to measure monovalent cation active transport in myocardial biopsy samples from dogs. In a preliminary study, we showed that quinidine did not affect rubidium uptake by myocardial samples from intact dogs. Then, we studied four groups, each consisting of 13 dogs, which received either saline, low dose digoxin, high dose digoxin, or low dose digoxin plus quinidine treatment. In these groups of dogs, the following steady state serum digoxin concentrations were achieved: saline-treated, 0 ng/ml; low dose digoxin, 1.2 +/- 0.2 ng/ml (mean +/- SD); high dose digoxin, 2.4 +/- 0.4 ng/ml; and low-dose digoxin plus quinidine treated, 2.3 +/- 1.1 ng/ml. Compared to control values, rubidium uptake was decreased by 17% in dogs treated with low dose digoxin (P less than 0.05) and by 38% in dogs treated with high dose digoxin (P less than 0.01 vs. saline-treated, P less than 0.01 vs. low dose digoxin). Although low dose digoxin plus quinidine-treated dogs had the same mean serum digoxin concentration as the high dose digoxin-treated dogs, rubidium uptake in low dose digoxin plus quinidine-treated dogs was decreased by only 17% compared to control (P less than 0.05 vs. saline-treated, (P less than 0.01 vs. high dose digoxin). During the quinidine-digoxin interaction in the intact dog, the reduction in myocardial rubidium uptake is less than expected from the increase in serum digoxin concentration.