A comparative study of metronidazole and sulfasalazine in active, not severe, ulcerative colitis. An Israeli multicenter trial.

Since metronidazole (M) was found to be effective in Crohn's disease, we evaluated its efficacy in the treatment of active ulcerative colitis (UC). Forty-six outpatients with acute, nonsevere UC were studied. Forty-two concluded the trial. Twenty-three received M 1.35 g/day and 19 received sulfasalazine (S) 4.5 g/day for 28 days in a randomized double-blind study. Six of 23 receiving M improved (26%) as against 13 of 19 patients receiving S (68%) (p less than 0.01). No significant side effects were noted. We conclude that M is ineffective in the therapy of an acute attack of UC.