title: Carbenoxolone maintenance in cimetidine-healed patients.
abstract: The effects of 3 months' maintenance treatments with cimetidine, 400 mg at bedtime, or with carbenoxolone, 150 mg/daily, in patients whose duodenal ulcers healed after an initial course with cimetidine were compared. Carbenoxolone promoted a significant enhancement of cimetidine-altered mucus secretion, whereas in the cimetidine group no mucus recovery was found. Within 6 months from healing time 48.1% of the patients in the cimetidine group relapsed, compared with 21.4% in the carbenoxolone group. The difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Our results suggest that carbenoxolone maintenance is more effective than cimetidine in preventing recurrence of ulcers, being also a cheaper and shorter maintenance treatment.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002229:Carbenoxolone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002927:Cimetidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D006146:Guanidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D006146:Guanidines; D002927:Cimetidine; D002229:Carbenoxolone; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid