ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In models of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), asimadoline, a kappa-opioid agonist, improves pain and abnormal bowel function. AIM: To evaluate the effects of three doses of asimadoline and placebo in subjects with IBS through a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to receive asimadoline 0.15, 0.5, 1.0 mg or placebo BID for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy measure was number of months of adequate relief of IBS pain or discomfort, with a prospective plan to evaluate adequate relief data by entry baseline pain and subtype. Several other endpoints were also evaluated. RESULTS: Five hundred and ninety-six patients were randomized. In the ITT population, statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint was not seen. However, in diarrhoea-predominant IBS patients with at least baseline moderate pain, asimadoline (0.5 mg) produced significant improvement on total number of months with adequate relief of IBS pain or discomfort (46.7% vs. 20.0%), adequate relief of IBS symptoms (46.7% vs. 23.0%), pain scores (week 12: -1.6 vs. -0.7), pain free days (42.9% vs. 18.0%), urgency and stool frequency (-2.3 vs. -0.3). In patients with alternating IBS, significant improvement was seen on adequate relief endpoints. Asimadoline was well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Asimadoline warrants further evaluation as a treatment for IBS.
Subject(s)
Abdominal Pain/drug therapy , Acetamides/therapeutic use , Gastrointestinal Agents/therapeutic use , Irritable Bowel Syndrome/drug therapy , Pyrrolidines/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Receptors, Opioid, kappa/therapeutic use , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Idiopathic chronic pancreatitis is a leading cause of chronic pancreatitis. Work from this and other groups has shown that idiopathic chronic pancreatitis is associated with mutations of the cystic fibrosis gene (CFTR). Many idiopathic pancreatitis patients have compound heterozygote genotypes in which both copies of the CFTR gene are abnormal. In these patients, the pancreatic disease can be viewed as a mild variant of cystic fibrosis, in which there is sufficient residual CFTR function to prevent lung disease. This article summarizes the evidence associating these abnormal CFTR genotypes with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis and reviews the implications of this association for the pathogenesis, classification, and prevention of pancreatitis.
Subject(s)
Cystic Fibrosis/genetics , DNA Mutational Analysis , Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics , Genotype , Pancreatitis/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Chronic Disease , Cystic Fibrosis/diagnosis , Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator/genetics , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pancreatitis/diagnosis , PhenotypeABSTRACT
Idiopathic chronic pancreatitis accounts for up to one third of chronic pancreatitis cases. The most common inherited disease of the exocrine pancreas is cystic fibrosis, which is caused by mutations of a gene encoding an ion transport protein. It was discovered during the past year that many patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis have mutations of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. This article reviews the evidence associating mutations of this gene with chronic pancreatitis and discusses the implications of this association for the evaluation, pathogenesis, classification, and possible prevention of pancreatitis.
