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Digoxin-like factors in herbal teas

L Longerich1, E Johnson, M H Gault

  • 1Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.

Clinical and Investigative Medicine. Medecine Clinique Et Experimentale
|June 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Certain herbal teas contain digoxin-like factors (DLF) that can increase in plasma after consumption. These findings suggest a dietary origin for some plasma DLF.

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Area of Science:

  • Pharmacology
  • Toxicology
  • Natural Products Chemistry

Background:

  • Digoxin-like factors (DLF) are endogenous substances that can interfere with digoxin assays.
  • The origin of DLF in human plasma remains incompletely understood, with potential dietary sources being investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify digoxin-like factors (DLF) in commercially packaged and home-prepared herbal teas.
  • To determine if ingestion of herbal teas with high DLF content increases plasma DLF levels in humans.

Main Methods:

  • Assay of 46 packaged teas and 78 herbal preparations for DLF using digoxin antibody crossreactivity and inhibition of ouabain binding to Na,K-ATPase.
  • Measurement of plasma DLF levels before and after ingestion of the three herbal teas with the highest NKA inhibitory DLF values.

Main Results:

  • Three packaged teas and three herbs exhibited significant NKA inhibitory DLF (>30 µg digoxin equivalents/cup).
  • Pleurisy root showed exceptionally high immuno-crossreactive DLF (187 µg/cup) and NKA inhibitory DLF (3658 µg/cup).
  • Ingestion of high-DLF teas led to substantial increases in plasma NKA inhibitory DLF, with one case exceeding 100-fold.

Conclusions:

  • Commercially packaged and herbal teas can contain significant amounts of digoxin-like factors.
  • Dietary intake of certain herbal teas can transiently elevate plasma DLF levels.
  • These findings support the hypothesis that a dietary source contributes to the presence of DLF in human plasma.

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