Comparing Omeprazole With Fluoxetine for Treatment of Non Erosive Reflux Disease and Its Subgroups: a Double-blind Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

Summary

Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is highly prevalent, affecting up to 20% of the adult population in North America. Up to 70% of GERD patients have non-erosive reflux disease (NERD), a term used to describe symptoms suggestive of GERD in patients with no endoscopic evidence of erosive esophagitis. NERD represents a heterogeneous group of patients whom are sub classified according to 24 hours-PH monitoring results and also symptom-acid association analysis(Symptom Index,SI). Treatment of NERD can be a challenge for clinicians. According to the many studies , the pooled rate for symptomatic response after a period of proton pomp inhibitor(PPIs)therapy as the most frequently used drug, in NERD patients is lower than for erosive esophagitis patients. It is also shown that acid exposure is much lower in NERD patients than those with erosive esophagitis and NERD patients are less likely to exhibit a strong association between heartburn symptoms and acid reflux events than patients with erosive oesophagitis. Furthermore, beside the high economic burden, there are concerns about the adverse effects of long time administration of PPIs. Several hypothesis has been proposed to describe low response rate of NERD patients to PPIs. One of the most acceptable theories is that patients with anxiety or depression and psychological problems are at an increased risk of developing reflux symptoms. On the other hand, pain modulators such as sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor(SSRI), and other antidepressants have been shown to improve symptoms in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders like non cardiac chest pain. According to the above-mentioned tips, the investigators hypothesize that antidepressants like fluoxetine, as an SSRI, may have beneficial effects in improving symptoms of NERD patients. The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of omeprazole with fluoxetine and placebo for treatment of NERD patients and its subgroups who all experience reflux symptoms and have normal endoscopic findings.

Timeline

Start

2010-08

Primary completion

2011-08

Completion

2011-08

Publications

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• Background Raghunath AS, O'Morain C, McLoughlin RC. Review article: the long-term use of proton-pump inhibitors. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Aug;22 Suppl 1:55-63. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2005.02611.x.
• Background Dean BB, Gano AD Jr, Knight K, Ofman JJ, Fass R. Effectiveness of proton pump inhibitors in nonerosive reflux disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2004 Aug;2(8):656-64. doi: 10.1016/s1542-3565(04)00288-5.
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• Background Handa M, Mine K, Yamamoto H, Hayashi H, Tsuchida O, Kanazawa F, Kubo C. Antidepressant treatment of patients with diffuse esophageal spasm: a psychosomatic approach. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1999 Apr;28(3):228-32. doi: 10.1097/00004836-199904000-00008.
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• Background Broekaert D, Fischler B, Sifrim D, Janssens J, Tack J. Influence of citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on oesophageal hypersensitivity: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006 Feb 1;23(3):365-70. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2006.02772.x.
• Background Rentz AM, Kahrilas P, Stanghellini V, Tack J, Talley NJ, de la Loge C, Trudeau E, Dubois D, Revicki DA. Development and psychometric evaluation of the patient assessment of upper gastrointestinal symptom severity index (PAGI-SYM) in patients with upper gastrointestinal disorders. Qual Life Res. 2004 Dec;13(10):1737-49. doi: 10.1007/s11136-004-9567-x.
• Background Fass R, Chey WD, Zakko SF, Andhivarothai N, Palmer RN, Perez MC, Atkinson SN. Clinical trial: the effects of the proton pump inhibitor dexlansoprazole MR on daytime and nighttime heartburn in patients with non-erosive reflux disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2009 Jun 15;29(12):1261-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2009.04013.x. Epub 2009 Apr 8.
• Ostovaneh MR, Saeidi B, Hajifathalian K, Farrokhi-Khajeh-Pasha Y, Fotouhi A, Mirbagheri SS, Emami H, Barzin G, Mirbagheri SA. Comparing omeprazole with fluoxetine for treatment of patients with heartburn and normal endoscopy who failed once daily proton pump inhibitors: double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2014 May;26(5):670-8. doi: 10.1111/nmo.12313. Epub 2014 Feb 7.

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