Prophylactic Efficacy of H2 Blocker (ranitidine) for Gastroduodenal Mucosal Damages on Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs(nsaids): A Ramdomized Placebo-Controlled Study.

To evaluate the prophylactic effect of ranitidine, H2 blocker, for gastroduodenal mucosal damages in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and normal volunteers, a randomized placebocontrolled study was conducted whether or not the concomitant administration of ranitidine could reduce the gastroduodenal mucosal damages on short term (2 weeks) NSAIDs.Ranitidine 150 mg or placebo twice daily plus NSAIDs (diclofenac Na, piroxicam, mefenamic acid) were administrated to 40 RA patients for 2 weeks with an endoscopic assessment on 0 and 14 day. The same randomized clinical trials were also performed in 20 healthy volunteers. Ranitidine/NSAIDs in RA patients group had significantly less gastroduodenal mucosal damages (P<0.002) than the placebo/NSAIDs in patients group and the same tendency was observed in normal volunteers. Gastroduodenal mucosal damages were influenced by smorking habits, alchol intake and coffee consumption in the volunteer group.It is concluded that rantidine 150 mg twice daily reduced the incidence of gastroduodenal mucosal damages on NSAIDs.