Effect of leuprolide acetate in patients with moderate to severe functional bowel disease : double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Moderate to severe functional bowel disease results in debilitating abdominal pain, nausea, intermittent vomiting, early satiety, bloating, abdominal distension, and/or altered bowel habits. Because it occurs approximately 20-30 times more frequently in women than in men and its symptoms often coinc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Digestive diseases and sciences 1994-06, Vol.39 (6), p.1155-1162
Main Authors: MATHIAS, J. R, CLENCH, M. H, REEVES-DARBY, V. G, FOX, L. M, HSU, P. H, ROBERTS, P. H, SMITH, L. L, STIGLICH, N. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Amino Acid Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Colonic Diseases, Functional - drug therapy
Delayed-Action Preparations
Digestive system
Double-Blind Method
Estradiol - blood
Female
Follicle Stimulating Hormone - blood
Humans
Leuprolide - administration & dosage
Leuprolide - therapeutic use
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Molecular Sequence Data
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Progesterone - blood
Prospective Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Moderate to severe functional bowel disease results in debilitating abdominal pain, nausea, intermittent vomiting, early satiety, bloating, abdominal distension, and/or altered bowel habits. Because it occurs approximately 20-30 times more frequently in women than in men and its symptoms often coincide with the menstrual cycle, we hypothesized that reproductive steroids may antagonize diseased nerves of the gastrointestinal tract, enhancing the expression of symptoms. No effective or consistent therapy has existed for these patients. We prospectively investigated the effect of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog, leuprolide acetate, in 30 women with symptoms of moderate to severe functional bowel disease. The study was phase II, randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled. Lupron Depot 3.75 mg (which delivers a continuous low dose of drug for one month) or placebo were given intramuscularly monthly for three months. Symptom scores were assessed at each four-week visit. Follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, and progesterone levels were assessed before and after therapy. Patients treated with low-dose leuprolide improved progressively and significantly in scores for nausea, vomiting, bloating, abdominal pain, and early satiety, and for overall symptoms (P < 0.01-0.05). All hormone levels decreased significantly (P < 0.05) except luteinizing hormone (P = 0.054).
ISSN:0163-2116
1573-2568
DOI:10.1007/BF02093778