Two parallel groups, each of 10 out-patients with endoscopically confirmed benign
gastric ulcer, were randomly assigned to receive either 1.5 g/day of
triletide, a new tripeptide shown to increase the synthesis of gastroduodenal mucus and to antagonize
thromboxane A2, or 0.3 g/day of
carbenoxolone. Both drugs were given orally in 3 divided doses for 4 weeks, according to the controlled design. Endoscopy showed that a greater proportion of patients treated with
triletide benefited from treatment (60%) in comparison with those who had
carbenoxolone (40%), but the difference was not significant. Weekly monitoring of epigastric
pain,
heartburn and
antacid intake showed both treatments to be effective, and
triletide to be overall faster acting (p less than 0.01 for epigastric
pain). Subjective complaints of possible side-reactions were not recorded with either treatment; routine physical examination, haematology and haematochemistry remained unaffected by
triletide, whereas treatment with
carbenoxolone was associated with a significant increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and with a significant decrease (p less than 0.05) in blood
potassium levels.
Triletide, therefore, appeared to be an effective and well-tolerated means for the
therapy of
gastric ulcer, and by virtue of its significantly greater symptomatic action and greater tolerance in comparison with a standard cytoprotective treatment such as
carbenoxolone, it is suggested that
triletide deserves consideration in the management of
peptic ulcer.