Protective effect of amtolmetin guacyl versus placebo diclofenac and misoprostol in healthy volunteers evaluated as gastric electrical activity in alcohol-induced stomach damage

Amtolmetin guacyl (AMG) is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) of high therapeutic activity and free of damaging effects on the gastrointestinal tract. Since acute ulcer and nausea have been found to be associated with gastric dysrhythmias, cutaneous electrogastrography and ultrasonographic study of the gastric emptying time were performed simultaneously in 24 healthy volunteers before and for 180 min after a liquid meal with 0.5 g/kg body weight of alcohol in double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studies. Before the recording session, each subject had taken placebo, AMG, a standard NSAID, or a gastric protective drug for four days. Alcohol administration increased the tachygastria percentage while diclofenac, AMG, and misoprostol alone did not induce gastrointestinal symptoms and gastric dysrhythmias. As regards alcohol-induced gastric dysrhythmia, placebo and diclofenac showed a clear increase in tachygastria while AMG and misoprostol did not. AMG is able to induce a normalization of gastric dysrhythmia induced by alcohol administration probably due to its peculiar mechanism of action, which involves capsaicin and CGRP pathways.