1. A non-interventional, observational study of a fixed combination of pepsin and amino acid hydrochloride in patients with functional dyspepsia.
- Author
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Forssmann K, Meier L, Uehleke B, Breuer C, and Stange R
- Subjects
- Amino Acids adverse effects, Drug Administration Schedule, Drug Combinations, Female, Gastrointestinal Agents adverse effects, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Outcome Assessment, Pepsin A adverse effects, Product Surveillance, Postmarketing, Treatment Outcome, Amino Acids therapeutic use, Dyspepsia drug therapy, Gastrointestinal Agents therapeutic use, Pepsin A therapeutic use
- Abstract
Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a gastrointestinal disorder characterized by recurrent and diverse symptoms and pathophysiology that remains unexplained following routine clinical investigation. Enzynorm®f is a pharmaceutical preparation comprising fixed amounts of pepsin of biological origin and organically bound acid in the form of amino acid hydrochloride. It is traditionally used as a mild agent to support gastric function and to stimulate the stomach's proteolytic activities in FD., Methods: In a non-interventional, observational, post-marketing surveillance study, patients with an established diagnosis of FD were treated with a fixed combination of pepsin and amino acid hydrochloride taken as tablets three times daily for 6 weeks. The primary objective of this study was to assess the change in symptoms using the validated Gastrointestinal Symptom Score (GIS©). Secondary objectives included patients' assessment of their gastrointestinal symptoms as well as treatment safety and tolerability., Results: A total of 97 patients (mean age 58.4 ± 13.9 years; 63.2% females) were included in the study, with 72 data having GIS© score data at baseline and at 6 weeks, and 34 also at 3 weeks. The overall GIS© sum score decreased by 4.1 (p < 0.0001) from 11.6 (±4.8) at baseline to 7.4 (± 4.6) reflecting an improvement of clinical symptomatology after 6 weeks of treatment. In a subgroup of 70 patients who had FD meeting the Rome III criteria a GIS© score reduction of ≥50% was observed after 3 weeks treatment in 24% and in 30.8% after 6 weeks. Adverse events were mostly gastrointestinal in nature and consistent with the underlying disease; no unexpected adverse reactions were reported. Twenty-seven patients discontinued the study, mostly because of gastrointestinal symptoms., Conclusion: The results of this study support the efficacy of a fixed combination of pepsin and amino acid hydrochloride for the treatment of patients with FD and also suggest good to moderate treatment tolerability. These findings should be further explored in a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial., Clinical Trial Registration: This study has been retrospectively registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry, trial identifier NCT03076411 .
- Published
- 2017
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