Contact: Jeffrey Macdonald (202) 973-2903
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Jennifer Armstrong (202) 973-2930
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New Treatments for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
and Chronic Constipation Reported
Phoenix, AZ, October 18, 1999 -- Three separate studies being presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), underscore a promising new class of medication that may offer symptom relief and improved outcomes for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or chronic constipation. The three studies, which report positive results with three separate agents for treatment of either IBS or chronic constipation, will offer new therapeutic alternatives for patients.
IBS afflicts millions of patients, more frequently women than men, with sporadic to persistent symptoms that include abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea. While medications, dietary fiber, biofeedback, and other treatments have helped many alleviate their symptoms, the choices and successes with medication have been limited.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), working under a grant from Glaxo-Wellcome, studied 626 non-constipated female IBS patients, treated with 1 mg of alosetron twice daily for 12 weeks. The researchers found improvements in reducing stool frequency, urgency and abdominal discomfort with improved stool consistency, leading them to conclude that alosetron was well-tolerated and clinically effective in alleviating pain and bowel-related symptoms.
A second study looked at another 799 IBS patients who had constipation-predominant IBS and who were treated with tegaserod, a partial 5HT4 agonist, in a study supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. The 16-week study included a 12-week medication regimen, double-blind, with two dosage levels of 4 mg and 12 mg a day as well as placebo.
At both dosage levels of tegaserod, patients experienced an increase in the number of bowel movements per month sustained over the 3-month medication period, plus fewer days of abdominal pain.
A third paper, conducted under a grant from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, reported on two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials of patients with chronic constipation being treated with prucalopride, a 5HT4 agonist. One study compared 1 mg- and 2 mg-a -day dosage levels with placebo, and the second tracked a 4 mg-a-day dose against placebo. Both studies showed dose-dependent improvements in stool frequency and consistency, and in constipation severity, with quicker relief of constipation recorded at the higher dosage level.
The studies offer an optimistic outlook for emergency treatments that could significantly improve results with two perennial clinical challenges in patients with very prevalent GI symptoms -- IBS and chronic constipation.
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The ACG was formed in 1932 to advance the scientific study and medical treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. The College promotes the highest standards in medical education and is guided by its commitment to meeting the needs of clinical gastroenterology practitioners. For more information, visit ACG's website: www.acg.gi.org.
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