Esomeprazole 40 mg i.v. provides faster and more effective intragastric acid control than pantoprazole 40 mg i.v.: results of a randomized study.

BACKGROUND

Oral esomeprazole 40 mg provides greater acid control than oral pantoprazole 40 mg.

AIM

To compare the effects on intragastric acid control of esomeprazole 40 mg administered intravenously with pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously.

METHODS

Healthy Helicobacter pylori-negative male and female subjects were enrolled into this single-centre, open, randomized, two-way crossover study. Esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously and pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously were administered as 15-min infusions once daily at 09:00 hours for 5 days. Continuous 24-h intragastric pH monitoring was carried out at baseline and on days 1 and 5.

RESULTS

pH-data were available for all 25 subjects who completed the study. Esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously resulted in 8.3 and 13.9 h with an intragastric pH > 4 on days 1 and 5 compared with 5.3 and 9.0 h, respectively for pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously (day 1: P < 0.001, day 5: P < 0.0001). During the first 4 h of dosing on day 1 corresponding values were 1.7 and 0.6 h respectively (P < 0.0001). A mean median pH above 4 on day 5 was only attained with esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously.

CONCLUSIONS

Once-daily dosing with esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously provides faster and more pronounced intragastric acid control than pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously.