title: Treatment of ulcerative colitis with olsalazine and sulphasalazine: efficacy and side-effects.
abstract: The effects of olsalazine were studied mainly in patients with ulcerative colitis who were intolerant to sulphasalazine, and for relapse prevention. A crossover design with sulphasalazine, 3 g/day, and olsalazine, 1.5 g/day, was applied to compare the side-effects of each drug and to evaluate their therapeutic efficacy. A total of 41 patients with mild or moderately severe left-sided colitis or proctitis were assigned to a randomized treatment schedule. Olsalazine and sulphasalazine were similar in their therapeutic efficacy. Twelve patients complained of adverse effects while on sulphasalazine and 4 patients during olsalazine treatment (p less than 0.05). It is concluded that olsalazine is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of mild or moderately severe ulcerative colitis, and is comparable to sulphasalazine, though with reduced side-effects.
authors.affiliation: I Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, West Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ewe
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eckardt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kanzler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011349:Proctitis / Q000188:drug therapy; D011897:Random Allocation; D012460:Sulfasalazine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids; D012460:Sulfasalazine; C032587:olsalazine