Highlights • Digoxin could reverse drug resistance of gemcitabine in gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. • Digoxin significantly inhibited Nrf2 signaling in gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. • Digoxin-mediated reversing drug resistance of gemcitabine in gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells was Nrf2 dependent.