Search CDDW 2007 Abstracts

HOME

Return to Table of Contents

200

ENDOSCOPICALLY MEASURED MUCOSAL HEALING OF DELAYED-RELEASE ORAL MESALAMINE 4.8 g/DAY VERSUS 2.4 g/DAY

GR Lichtenstein, D Rubin, R Eusebio
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Mason, Ohio, USA

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of delayed-release oral mesalamine 4.8 g/day (investigational 800 mg tablet) vs 2.4 g/day (marketed 400 mg tablet) on endoscopically measured mucosal healing in patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC).
METHODS: Data from two Phase III, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, 6-week, controlled studies of similar design (ASCEND I&II) were pooled and analyzed. Mucosal healing was defined as endoscopy subscore of 0 or 1. Patients with moderately active UC (defined as a baseline Physician's Global Assessment score of 2) and baseline endoscopy subscore => 2 were included in this analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 423 analyzable patients with moderate UC were randomized in the two studies, of which 391 patients met criteria for this analysis. The two treatment groups were balanced with regard to baseline and demographic characteristics, disease history, and baseline disease state characteristics. In the population of patients with moderately active UC and baseline endoscopy subscore => 2, the percentage of patients achieving mucosal healing is shown in the table below.
Mucosal Healing in Moderate UC Patients
 2.4 g/day n=209 4.8 g/day n=182
Week 3 58% 65%
Week 6 68% 80%*
*p<0.05

The 4.8 g/day dose of mesalamine was well tolerated, with adverse events comparable to 2.4 g/day.
CONCLUSION: Regardless of dose and as early as 3 weeks, delayed-release oral mesalamine induces endoscopically measured mucosal healing in >50% of patients. Compared to 2.4 g/day, initiating therapy with 4.8 g/day significantly improves endoscopic measured mucosal healing in patients with moderately active UC.
This research was funded by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals

PREVIOUS     NEXT