A 0.5 g daily dose of cimetidine was as effective as a 1 g dose in the acute treatment of duodenal ulcer patients in Hong Kong. The aims of the present study were, first, to determine whether low-dose cimetidine treatment was as effective as standard doses in acute duodenal ulcer treatment of patients in Singapore, and second, to compare a single nocturnal dosage regimen with a twice daily regimen. In this single centre, double-blind, controlled trial, 282 patients with endoscopically proven duodenal ulcer were randomized to receive four weeks' treatment with cimetidine using one of three dosage regimens: (A) 800 mg at night; (B) 400 mg at night; or (C) 400 mg twice daily. Two hundred and forty-seven patients were evaluated. The incidences of healing at four weeks were: (A) 40/80 (50%), (B) 39/88 (44%); and (C) 48/79 (61%); (B vs C: P less than 0.05; A vs C: NS; 95% confidence limits: -5% to 27%; A vs B: NS, 95% confidence limits: -6% to 21%). Of 183 patients who had antral biopsies taken, 176 (96%) had histological gastritis, while 167 (91%) were positive for Helicobacter-like organisms. The occurrence of gastritis or Helicobacter-like organisms had no influence on ulcer healing. A 400 mg dose of cimetidine is therefore suboptimal for the treatment of duodenal ulcer in patients in Singapore. A single nocturnal dosage regimen may be less effective than a twice daily regimen.

Adult↗

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Antibody to herpes simplex virus type 1 in peptic ulcer patients.

It has been postulated that herpes simplex virus type 1 may be a causative factor of duodenal ulcer. Serum antibody titres to herpes simplex virus type 1 in duodenal and gastric ulcer patients were compared with race-, sex- and age-matched controls. No differences in antibody titres could be demonstrated between duodenal ulcer and gastric ulcer patients and their respective controls, between gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer patients or between acute and convalescent sera in either gastric or duodenal ulcer. Although Chinese are more susceptible to ulcer disease than Malays and Indians, antibody titres were comparable between subjects of different races. The results of this study do not support a causal role for herpes simplex virus in peptic ulcer disease.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of chilli and its pungent ingredient capsaicin on gastrointestinal transit in the rat.

The effect of chilli powder and its pungent ingredient capsaicin on gastrointestinal transit in the rat was studied. Fasted unanaesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 144) received by gavage a test meal containing charcoal and cellulose in water or capsaicin solvent plus 51Cr as a radioactive marker. Either 100 or 200 mg of chilli powder (containing 0.13 and 0.26 mg of capsaicin, respectively) or 0.5 or 1 mg of capsaicin were added, the final volume of each meal being 1.5 mL. At 10 and 20 min, animals were killed and the amount of isotope that had left the stomach was measured, together with the distance the charcoal column had travelled along the small intestine. Compared to controls, animals given chilli powder emptied less of their gastric content at 10 and 20 min, an effect partly reproduced by capsaicin. However overall gastric-small intestinal transit was unaffected by chilli powder or capsaicin. Another 12 male Sprague-Dawley rats received, under light ether anaesthesia, on six occasions at 1-2 week intervals, the same six test meals as used in the previous experiment except that charcoal was not used. Total gut transit as measured by the amount of radioactive marker excreted in the stools at 18 and 24 h was unaffected by the use of chilli or capsaicin.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relation between serum bilirubin and continuous nasoenteral feeding: serum cholesterol and enteral feeding--are they related?

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Bilirubin↗