A comparative study of the gastroprotective action of three doses of dosmalfate vs. placebo in the prevention of acute aspirin-induced gastric lesions

Acute aspirin-induced gastric lesions have become a standard experimental m odel for studying the effect of a number of drugs with a claimed cytoprotec tive effect since aspirin can induce direct damage to the gastric mucosa in addition to having an inhibitory effect on local prostaglandin synthesis. The gastroprotective action of three single doses of dosmalfate was studied in a placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover, double-blind, dose-ranging study carried out in 24 healthy volunteers in order to determine the minim um effective dose able to prevent aspirin-induced gastric damage. Results f rom this study showed a significant decrease in the variation of the antrum damage in the endoscopic score found after treatment with 1.5 g dosmalfate compared to placebo. On the other hand, no adverse events attributable to dosmalfate (at all three doses) were observed throughout the study. (C) 200 0 Prous Science. All rights reserved.