Clinical perspectives of drugs inhibiting acid secretion--H+K+-ATPase inhibitors.

The H+K+-ATPase is supposed to be the terminal step in the acid-secreting pathway in the parietal cell. Omeprazole blocks this enzyme, resulting in a marked inhibition of basal and stimulated acid secretion. With omeprazole 20 mg daily, 24-hour intragastric acidity is decreased by about 90%. Several clinical studies have now been published in which omeprazole has been compared with the H2-receptor antagonists cimetidine and ranitidine. Omeprazole in doses between 20 and 40 mg daily resulted in healing rates between 65% and 82% after treatment for 2 weeks and between 90% and 100% after treatment for 4 weeks. Treatment with omeprazole also gave faster and more pronounced pain relief. One comparative study in gastric ulcer has also been published showing healing rates equal to those with ranitidine. Placebo-controlled trials have also shown very pronounced therapeutic effect in reflux esophagitis. Omeprazole seems to be the drug of choice in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, giving beneficial clinical effects and pronounced and long-lasting reduction in gastric acid secretion.