A double-blind, short-term clinical trial of pirenzepine in duodenal ulcer

The effectiveness of pirenzepine in the treatment of duodenal ulcer was assessed in a double-blind clinical trial in comparison with placebo. Twenty-nine of 30 patients satisfactorily completed the trial. There was endoscopic ulcer healing in 4 of 14 pirenzepine treated patients (29%) after 2 weeks of treatment and in 11 of 14 (79%) after 6 weeks. There was no healing in 15 patients treated with placebo after 2 weeks and there were two ulcers healed after 6 weeks. The difference between pirenzepine and placebo was significant in both 2nd and 6th week. Duodenitis (evaluated by endoscopy) markedly improved in the pirenzepine grouu after 2 (4 of 9 patients) and after 6 weeks of treatment (8 of 9), while no, or only slight, improvement was observed in 8 of 8 patients in the placebo group. When evaluated by ulcer symptom relief and antacid tablet comsumption, pirenzepine proved to be considerable more efficacious than the placebo. The results of this study demonstrate that pirenzepine promoted duodenal ulcer healing, that it markedly improved peptic duodenitis and promoted rapid regression of symptomatology in parallel with endoscopic findings.