title: Once daily vs multiple daily mesalamine therapy for mild to moderate ulcerative colitis: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  5-Aminosalicylic acid is the first-line drug for mild to moderate ulcerative colitis (UC). The most commonly used 5-aminosalicylic acid is mesalamine. Several systematic reviews have demonstrated that mesalamine is effective in inducing and maintaining remission. Efficacy, safety and adherence to once daily (OD) and multiple daily (MD) dosing of mesalamine for the induction and maintenance of remission in mild to moderate UC were systematically reviewed and compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to November 2014. Only randomized controlled trials were considered eligible. STATA software (version 12.0) was used to calculate the pooled risk ratios with 95% confidence interval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventeen randomized studies containing 5439 patients were identified. No significant differences were noted in comparisons between OD and MD dosing for maintenance and induction of remission. No significant differences were noted in rates of medication adherence or adverse events between OD and MD dosing. With regard to mesalamine suppository, no significant differences were noted for comparisons between dosing regimens and adverse events for induction of remission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OD dose of mesalamine is as effective and safe as MD doses for the induction and maintenance treatment of mild to moderate UC. OD mesalamine given as a suppository can attain the same effect and safety as MD mesalamine in inducing remission of mild to moderate ulcerative colitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Z-M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: X-L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D019804:Mesalamine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D013488:Suppositories
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D013488:Suppositories; D019804:Mesalamine
keywords: Ulcerative colitis; mesalamine; meta-analysis; multiple daily; once daily