Gastric emptying and related symptoms in patients treated with buspirone, amitriptyline or clebopride: a "real world" study by 13C-octanoic Acid Breath Test.

BACKGROUND

Gastric motility is a key-factor in the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia (FD). 13C-octanoic Acid Breath Test (OBT) is a tool used for measuring gastric emptying time in clinical setting. We aimed to investigate the variation in FD symptoms and OBT parameters after treatment with buspirone, amitriptyline or clebopride.

METHODS

Between Jan-2007 and Dec-2014, we enrolled 59 patients with FD unresponsive to first-line therapy with proton pump inhibitors and/or domperidone that underwent OBT before and after 3 months of buspirone (N.=32), amitriptyline (N.=16) or clebopride (N.=11) treatment.

RESULTS

Early satiation severity was positively correlated with gastric half emptying time (t1/2) (r=0.3789, P=0.003) and gastric lag phase (r=0.3371, P=0.011), and negatively correlated with gastric emptying coefficient (r=-0.3231, P=0.015). A reduction in t1/2 measurement in association to postprandial fullness, and early satiation severity improvement was observed (P=0.009, P=0.005 and P<0.001, respectively). Patients treated with buspirone obtained both a decrease in t1/2 (P=0.005) and an amelioration in early satiation (P=0.001). Patients under amitriptyline treatment experienced an improvement in postprandial fullness (P=0.046), whereas no variation was reported in patients treated with clebopride.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with FD, non-responders to first-line therapy and reporting meal-related discomfort, may benefit from buspirone or amitriptyline-based therapies.