Digoxin- and digitoxin-like immunoreactive substances in amniotic fluid, cord blood, and serum of neonates.

Using four different digoxin kits, it was disclosed that the majority of various samples including amniotic fluid, cord blood, and serum from neonates contained substantial levels of digoxin-like immunoreactive substance. The differences in data seemed to be due to the range of epitopes which are recognized by antidigoxin antiserum. The day-to-day studies on sera serially obtained from infants at birth to 48 days old revealed that the level of the substance (0.31 +/- 0.12 ng/ml) in sera of the 1-day-old neonates rapidly declined to the level of 0.1 ng/ml by the 2nd postnatal wk and thereafter gradually declined. The immunological specificity and accuracy of the detection of digoxin-like immunoreactive substance was confirmed by a sample dilution test, a recovery test for standard digoxin, and an absorption test with antidigoxin antiserum. The amniotic fluid and cord blood also contained four to eight times more of a digitoxin-like immunoreactive substance than they did digoxin-like immunoreactive substance. A significant correlation was observed between the levels of digoxin-like immunoreactive substance and of digitoxin-like immunoreactive substance (p less than 0.01).