[Mucoprotective drugs and aspirin-induced gastric injury].

Low-dose aspirin is widely used for anti-thrombotic strategy in the elderly. Despite the excellent benefits, GI bleeding due to gastric/duodenal ulcers or injury is a major complication in aspirin users. In animal model, low-dose aspirin induced gastric injury is prevented by the administration of proton-pump inhibitor(PPI), exogenous PGE2 and atropine. In clinical trials, PPI and famotidine (40 mg/d) are proven to have the preventive effect to gastric ulceration induced by low-dose aspirin use. Although gastric mucoprotective drugs including PG are speculated to show the preventive effect, the supportive clinical evidences are limited. Large-scaled, randomized clinical trials are required to confirm the clinical benefits of gastric mucoprotective drugs to low-dose aspirin induced gastric injury.