Efficacy of omeprazole, famotidine, mosapride and teprenone in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms: an omeprazole-controlled randomized study (J-FOCUS)

Abstract

Background: In Japan, treatment guidelines are lacking for patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. We aimed to compare the efficacy of different drugs for the treatment of uninvestigated upper gastrointestinal symptoms.

Methods: This was a randomized, open-label, parallel-group multicenter study. Helicobacter pylori-negative, endoscopically uninvestigated patients ≥ 20 years of age with upper gastrointestinal symptoms of at least moderate severity (Global Overall Symptom score [GOS] ≥ 4 on a 7-point Likert scale) were randomized to treatment with omeprazole (10 mg once daily), famotidine (10 mg twice daily), mosapride (5 mg three times daily) or teprenone (50 mg three times daily). The primary endpoint was sufficient relief of upper gastrointestinal symptoms after 4 weeks of treatment (GOS ≤ 2). UMIN clinical trial registration number: UMIN000005399.

Results: Of 471 randomized patients, 454 were included in the full analysis set. After 4 weeks of treatment, sufficient symptom relief was achieved by 66.9% of patients in the omeprazole group, compared with 41.0%, 36.3% and 32.3% in the famotidine, mosapride and teprenone groups, respectively (all, p < 0.001 vs omeprazole). There were no treatment-related adverse events.

Conclusions: The favorable efficacy and safety profiles of omeprazole in relieving uninvestigated upper gastrointestinal symptoms support its use as first-line treatment in this patient group in Japan. Patients who show no improvement in symptoms despite PPI use, and those with alarm symptoms (such as vomiting, GI bleeding or acute weight loss) should receive further investigation, including prompt referral for endoscopy.

Trial registration: UMIN000005399.

Figure 1

Study flow diagram. *patients who completed the Global Overall Symptom assessment; ITT, intention-to-treat; FAS, full analysis set.

Figure 2

Upper gastrointestinal symptoms in 454 patients at baseline, as scored on the Global Overall Severity (GOS) scale.

Figure 3

Coexistence of predominant gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms, predominant dyspeptic symptoms and predominant other upper gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the symptom with the highest Global Overall Severity score at baseline. A joint highest score for more than one symptom was possible. GERD symptoms included heartburn and regurgitation; dyspeptic symptoms included epigastric pain, postprandial fullness and early satiety; and other symptoms included nausea/vomiting, belching and bloating.

Figure 4

Proportion of patients with sufficient and complete overall relief of their upper gastrointestinal symptoms after 4 weeks of treatment with omeprazole, famotidine, mosapride or teprenone. Symptoms were scored using the Global Overall Severity (GOS) scale. Sufficient overall symptom relief was defined as GOS ≤ 2 and complete overall symptom relief was defined as GOS = 1 for all symptoms. *p-values given for sufficient symptom relief.

Figure 5

Proportion of patients with improvements in upper gastrointestinal symptoms after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of treatment with omeprazole, famotidine, mosapride or teprenone. Symptoms were scored using the Global Overall Severity (GOS) scale, and symptom improvement was defined as a decrease in GOS by ≥ 2 grades. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs omeprazole.