Behaviour of gastric mucin during pirenzepine treatment: A double-blind controlled study versus cimetidine

Thirty duodenal ulcer patients were given either pirenzepine, 100 mg daily, or cimetidine, 1 g daily, for 6 weeks, in double-blind conditions. Before and after treatment gastric mucin fractions in the gastric juice were measured and a 'mucoprotective index' was calculated. No significant changes in the index were found after pirenzepine treatment, whereas a highly significant decrease (P <0.001) was observed after cimetidine treatment. The healing rate at endoscopical control was 60% with pirenzepine and 53% with cimetidine. The results show that pirenzepine is as effective as cimetidine in the treatment of duodenal ulcer. Furthermore pirenzepine promotes healing of peptic ulcer without affecting mucosal protective factors.