[Ranitidine, a new histamine H2 receptor antagonist. First experimental and clinical data]

The new developed histamine H2-receptor antagonist ranitidine has proven to be a more potent and longer acting anti-secretory compound than cimetidine both after intravenous as well as oral administration. A daily dose of 200-300 mg ranitidine should correspond to 1.0-1.2 g cimetidine in the acute therapy of duodenal ulcer disease. Ranitidine acts neither as a dopamine receptor blocker nor as a dopamine agonist at the pituitary level. Antiandrogenic properties of ranitidine have not yet been described. Ranitidine a more powerful and more selective inhibitor of gastric acid secretion, provides an alternative to cimetidine for clinical situation in which blockage of histamine H2-receptors is useful.