Clinical trial: irsogladine maleate, a mucosal protective drug, accelerates gastric ulcer healing after treatment for eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection - the results of a multicentre, double-blind, randomized clinical trial (IMPACT study)

P>Background Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy alone is not sufficient to heal all gastric ulcers. Aim To verify the efficacy of treatment with irsogladine maleate between the termination and assessment of treatment for eradicating H. pylori in a double-blind study. Methods Three hundred and twenty-two patients with a single H. pylori-positive gastric ulcer were given eradication treatment, then assigned randomly to a treatment group [given 4 mg/day irsogladine maleate (n = 150)] or a control group [given a placebo (n = 161)]. The gastric ulcer healing rates were compared after 7 weeks of treatment. Results The healing rate was significantly higher in the irsogladine maleate group (83.0%) than in the placebo group (72.2%; chi 2 test, P = 0.0276). In the subgroup analysis of cases of eradication failure, the gastric ulcer healing rate was significantly higher in the irsogladine maleate group (57.9%) than in the placebo group (26.1%; chi 2 test, P = 0.0366). Conclusions Irsogladine maleate was effective for treating gastric ulcer after H. pylori eradication. The high healing rates observed in patients with or without successful eradication demonstrate the usefulness of irsogladine maleate treatment regardless of the outcome of eradication.