ABSTRACT
Oleander, a flowering plant that grows in the Mediterranean and southern US, contains the cardiac glycosides oleandrin, digitoxigenin and nerium, which inhibit Na(+)-K+ ATPase. Clinical manifestations of oleander toxicity include gastrointestinal irritation, marked hyperkalemia, A-V block, ventricular dysrhythmia, and not uncommonly death. Because fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP) has been shown to attenuate digoxin toxicity, we determined whether this agent would be effective in the treatment of the toxicity of these similarly-structured cardiac glycosides. Anesthetized dogs (n = 12) were infused i.v. for 5 min with 40 mg oleander extract/kg and then 6 dogs randomly selected from that group received a 50 mg/kg bolus of 10% FDP followed by a constant infusion. The other control animals received the same dosage of 10% dextrose. Within 5 min after oleander administration, all dogs developed dysrhythmias. The FDP-treated animals reverted to sinus rhythm within 1.58 +/- 0.15 h; none in the control group returned to sinus rhythm. One control dog died at 3 h from ventricular fibrillation. Marked hyperkalemia was observed in the control group; plasma K+ remained unchanged in the FDP group. Throughout the 4 h experimental period the FDP group maintained normal arterial pressures; in the control dextrose group, pressures were profoundly depressed. Cardiac output declined in both groups but remained higher in the FDP group. To determine the mechanism whereby FDP attenuates oleander toxicity, we studied the in vitro effect of FDP on oleander poisoned myocardial sarcolemmal membranes. At concentrations of 1 and 2 mg oleander inhibited Na(+)-K+ ATPase activity and addition of 500 microM FDP restored myocardial sarcolemmal Na(+)-K+ ATPase function. FDP effectively prevented hyperkalemia, reversed dysrhythmias and improved hemodynamics in vivo in this canine model of oleander toxicity and also restored sarcolemmal Na(+)-K+ ATPase activity in vitro.