Rifaximin for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Summary

We have recently shown that the majority of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have an abnormal lactulose breath test to suggest the presence of bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine. In open label and double blind treatment of IBS subjects with antibiotics, a dramatic improvement in clinical symptoms are observed. In these studies, the antibiotic chosen was neomycin, which is noted to have an efficacy of 20-25% in normalizing the lactulose breath test. A more efficacious antibiotic is needed. Therefore the aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of rifaximin in normalizing the lactulose breath test in IBS subjects with concomitant improvement in clinical symptoms.

Timeline

Start

2003-07

Primary completion

2007-01

Completion

2007-01

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper Over the 10 weeks of follow-up, rifaximin resulted in greater improvement in IBS symptoms (P = 0.020). PMID 17043337 ↗

Publications

• Results Pimentel M, Park S, Mirocha J, Kane SV, Kong Y. The effect of a nonabsorbed oral antibiotic (rifaximin) on the symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2006 Oct 17;145(8):557-63. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-145-8-200610170-00004.

Drugs

Indications