Treatment of gastric ulcer with enprostil.

This study evaluated the efficacy of two dosage levels of enprostil in 129 patients with gastric ulcer disease. Patients with endoscopically diagnosed gastric ulcer were randomly assigned to receive enprostil 70 micrograms, enprostil 35 micrograms, or a matching placebo capsule twice daily for six weeks. Ulcer healing rates were similar in all treatment groups after two weeks of therapy, but began to show some differences in favor of the enprostil treatment groups after four weeks. Greater differences were noted after six weeks of therapy, with healing rates of 70 percent in the 70-micrograms enprostil group, 82 percent in the 35-micrograms enprostil group, and 50 percent in the placebo group. The six-week healing rate in the 35-micrograms enprostil group was significantly greater than the placebo rate (p = 0.005). Comparison of healing rates in the active treatment groups and the placebo group after six weeks of therapy showed a correlation between therapeutic effect and ulcer size at baseline. This trend is illustrated by a 24 percent difference between the 35-micrograms enprostil group and the placebo group among patients with small (3 to 9 mm) ulcers, compared with a 46 percent difference between these two groups among patients with large (20 to 30 mm) ulcers. Thus, the effectiveness of enprostil is more readily demonstrable in patients with larger ulcers.