Treatment of duodenal ulcer with enprostil, a prostaglandin E2 analogue.

Enprostil is a synthetic prostaglandin E2 analogue with gastric anti-secretory, cytoprotective, and gastrin lowering properties. The current multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and safety of enprostil (35 micrograms twice daily) for the treatment of duodenal ulcers. The study enrolled 87 patients between the ages of 18 and 85 with an endoscopically proved duodenal ulcer between 0.5 and 3.0 cm in its longest dimension and with no other serious medical conditions or abnormal laboratory tests results. Treatment groups were comparable in age, sex, smoking status, ulcer history, and baseline ulcer size. The results indicated that the healing rate for enprostil at two weeks was 38 percent, compared with a placebo rate of 23 percent (p = 0.151). At four weeks, 70 percent of the enprostil-treated patients had healed ulcers, compared with 49 percent of the placebo-treated patients, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.048). Although within the enprostil group the healing rate was higher in nonsmokers (86 percent) than in smokers (58 percent), this difference did not reach statistical significance. Side effects included diarrhea (14 percent) and headache (7 percent). These results indicate that 35 micrograms of enprostil twice daily provides effective and safe therapy for patients with duodenal ulcer.