Rapid detection of cardioactive bufalin toxicity using fluorescence polarization immunoassay for digitoxin

Intoxication caused by digitalis-like substances after ingestion of cooked toad soup has been reported. Bufalin, a cardioactive compound, is found in toad. Bufalin is also found in many Chinese medicines. Earlier reports demonstrated cross reactivity of bufalin with fluorescence polarization immunoassay for digoxin. In this report, the authors demonstrated a significantly higher cross reactivity of bufalin with the fluorescence polarization assay for digitoxin. They supplemented aliquots of normal plasma that had various concentrations of bufalin (1 to 50 ng/ml) from a local blood bank and measured apparent digitoxin concentrations using fluorescence polarization immunoassay and chemiluminescent assays (ACS digitoxin) for digitoxin. They measured apparent digoxin and digitoxin concentrations using fluorescence polarization, microparticle enzyme immunoassay, and chemiluminescent assays for digitoxin. They observed apparent digitoxin or digoxin concentrations in sera supplemented with bufalin only with the fluorescence polarization assays. For example, the apparent digitoxin concentration observed in a serum supplemented with 25 ng/ml of bufalin was 24.3 ng/ml of digitoxin equivalent. The apparent digoxin concentration observed in the same specimen was 1.33 ng/ml digoxin equivalent. Bufalin caused positive interference in serum digoxin or digitoxin measurements in specimens containing digoxin or digitoxin when concentrations were measured by fluorescence polarization assays. In contrast, bufalin lowered the measured digoxin concentrations in serum pools containing digoxin when digoxin concentrations were measured by the microparticle enzyme immunoassay. The authors conclude that bufalin toxicity can be rapidly detected by the fluorescence polarization assay for digitoxin.