title: Coated oral 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy for mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. A randomized study.
abstract: We assessed oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) prepared with a pH-sensitive polymer coating in 87 patients with mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 5-ASA at a dosage of either 4.8 or 1.6 g per day or placebo for six weeks. The outcome was monitored by flexible proctosigmoidoscopic examinations and physicians' assessments at three-week intervals and by patients' recordings of daily symptoms. Results showed 24 percent complete and 50 percent partial responses in those receiving 4.8 g of 5-ASA per day as compared with 5 percent complete and 13 percent partial responses in those receiving placebo (P less than 0.0001, rank-sum test). At a dosage of 1.6 g per day, the response was twice as good as with placebo, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.51). Age, sex, duration of disease, duration of active symptoms, or extent of disease did not affect the clinical outcome. We conclude that oral 5-ASA administered in a dosage of 4.8 g per day is effective therapy, at least in the short term, for mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Tremaine
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ilstrup
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019804:Mesalamine; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D013608:Tablets, Enteric-Coated
chemical_list: D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids; D013608:Tablets, Enteric-Coated; D019804:Mesalamine