ISSN:
1365-2036
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Background: Pentasa is a controlled-release tablet made from semipermeable microspheres and designed to continuously deliver therapeutic quantities of 5-ASA (5-aminosalicylic acid) throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Scintigraphic studies in healthy subjects have documented that 5-ASA release could occur in the small intestine. We tested here the disintegration of Pentasa in the digestive tract of nine patients with Crohn's disease of the small intestine. Materials: Each patient was given, after breakfast, a 250 mg tablet of Pentasa containing samarium-153 oxide. For 8 h the progression of the isotope in the gastrointestinal tract was followed using gamma camera scintigraphy. Plasma measurement of 5-ASA and acetylated 5-ASA was used to verify the liberation and absorption of 5-ASA. Results: The Pentasa tablet appeared completely dissolved in the stomach by 117 ± 18 min. Samarium oxide was first detected in the small intestine 60 ± 5 min after its ingestion; it reached the colon after 280 ± 13 min and it was completely absent from the small intestine at 360 ± 26 min. Plasma concentrations of 5-ASA started to rise after 67 ± 7 min and were maximal at 222±25 min. Conclusion: In patients with Crohn's disease of the small intestine, Pentasa microgranules start releasing 5-ASA in the proximal small intestine, acting locally to exert its beneficial effect.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.1995.tb00387.x
Permalink
