Therapeutic and Toxic Indexes of Digitalis

IN recent years considerable interest has been aroused in the therapeutic-toxic ratios possessed by various digitalis preparations; among those evoking special interest is gitalin, the water-extractable substance of digitalis purpurea that was first studied by Kraft1 in 1912 and later by others in this country.2 3 4 More recent reports dealing with gitalin have indicated a wider therapeutic range as compared with other preparations such as digitoxin, digitalis leaf and Digoxin.5 6 7 8 9 10 It has been stated, for example, that the therapeutic dose of amorphous gitalin is approximately 40 per cent of the toxic dose, whereas other glycosides (digitoxin, digitalis leaf and Digoxin) studied . . .