Estrogen-like Activity of Digitalis

Vaginal smears of 52 postmenopausal women who had been taking digitoxin for periods of three months to 15 years were studied for possible estrogen-like effect on epithelial maturation. The pattern of cells from 20 women who had been taking digitoxin for over two years showed marked maturation of vaginal squamous epithelium, closely simulating the effect of estrogens. Of the 32 women who had been taking digitoxin less than two years, only three showed marked maturation of the squamous epithelium. Four of the 50 control patients exhibited moderate estrogenic effect. None showed marked maturation of vaginal epithelium.