[The effects of teprenone on the ulcer healing rate and the quality of healing in the treatment of active gastric ulcers].

UNLABELLED: One hundred and six patients with active gastric ulcer proven by endoscopy were randomly allocated to receive cimetidine 800 mg at bedtime + teprenone 50 mg thrice daily; or cimetidine 800 mg at bedtime alone in a trial comparing the ulcer healing rate and the quality of healing at 4 or 8 weeks. At 4 weeks 72.4% (42/58) of those on cimetidine + teprenone and 52.1% (25/48) on cimetidine alone had ulcers healed in comparison of 93.1% (54/58) and 89.6% (43/48) respectively at 8 weeks. The difference was significant at 4 weeks, indicating the ulcer heal more rapidly in the combination therapy group. The stage S2 achievement rates were 34.5% (20/58) and 10.4% (5/48) at 4 weeks (P < 0.05), 50.0% (29/58) and 20.8% (10/48) at 8 weeks (P < 0.05) respectively, indicating the quality of ulcer healing was much better in the combination therapy group. The gastric mucosal hexosamine levels increase significantly after treatment (17.79 +/- 2.00 micrograms/mg) as compared to that before treatment (14.27 +/- 2.47 micrograms/mg) in the combination therapy group, indicating that teprenone stimulates macromolecular glycoprotein synthesis in gastric mucosa. This is thought to be a significant factor in the healing process of gastric ulceration.

CONCLUSION

It is reasonable to administer teprenone, an agent increasing mucosal resistance, concurrently with H2 blockers in the treatment of active gastric ulcers.