Incidence of small bowel injury induced by low-dose aspirin: a crossover study using capsule endoscopy in healthy volunteers.
OBJECTIVE
Small intestinal toxicity of low-dose aspirin remains unclear. The purpose of this capsule endoscopy study was to assess the incidence of small bowel injury in healthy volunteers treated with short-term low-dose aspirin.


METHODS
Healthy subjects were randomly assigned to receive low-dose aspirin for 14 days (Aspirin group) or no drugs for 14 days (Control group). The two treatment occasions were separated by a washout period of at least 4 weeks. All subjects underwent capsule endoscopy at the end of each treatment period.


RESULTS
After 2 weeks of treatment, the percentages of subjects with small bowel pathology were 80% in the Aspirin group compared with 20% in the Control group (p = 0.023). The incidence of small bowel mucosal breaks in the Aspirin group was higher than that in the Control group, although the difference was not significant (30 vs. 0%; p = 0.210).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first pilot study using capsule endoscopy to report on the relation between small bowel injury and low-dose aspirin. Among the healthy subjects, the short-term administration of low-dose aspirin was associated with a mild mucosal inflammation of the small bowel.
Endo
Hiroki
H
Division of Gastroenterology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan. t066011b@yokohama-cu.ac.jp
Hosono
Kunihiro
K
Inamori
Masahiko
M
Kato
Shingo
S
Nozaki
Yuichi
Y
Yoneda
Kyoko
K
Akiyama
Tomoyuki
T
Fujita
Koji
K
Takahashi
Hirokazu
H
Yoneda
Masato
M
Abe
Yasunobu
Y
Kirikoshi
Hiroyuki
H
Kobayashi
Noritoshi
N
Kubota
Kensuke
K
Saito
Satoru
S
Matsuhashi
Nobuyuki
N
Nakajima
Atsushi
A
D000328:Adult; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D007421:Intestine, Small; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D001241:Aspirin