Efficacy and safety of peppermint oil for the treatment in Japanese patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a prospective, open-label, and single-arm study.

Background: In Europe, an herbal medicine containing peppermint oil is widely used in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In Japan, however, no clinical evidence for peppermint oil in IBS has been established, and it has not been approved as a drug for IBS. Accordingly, we conducted a clinical study to confirm the efficacy and safety of peppermint oil (ZO-Y60) in Japanese patients with IBS.

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for irritable bowel syndrome 2020.

Managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has attracted international attention because single-agent therapy rarely relieves bothersome symptoms for all patients. The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE) published the first edition of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for IBS in 2015. Much more evidence has accumulated since then, and new pharmacological agents and non-pharmacological methods have been developed.

Randomized, placebo-controlled, phase IV pilot study of ramosetron to evaluate the co-primary end points in male patients with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.

Background: Global assessment allows patients to assess improvement in multiple irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms. However, it was deemed important to assess "clinically meaningful improvements, focusing on the patient's chief complaint and the severity of major IBS symptoms" in addition to global assessment to show how ramosetron is effective for individual IBS symptoms. This is a pilot study to explore clinical endpoints focusing on the chief complaint of patients with IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D).

Evaluation of the irritable bowel syndrome severity index in Japanese male patients with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.

Background: Previous studies have indicated that ramosetron, a 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 receptor antagonist, achieves global improvement in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms in male patients with IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D). However, in addition to global assessment it was deemed important to assess "clinically meaningful improvements, focusing on the patient's chief complaint and the severity of major IBS symptoms". We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase IV pilot study to explore and examine efficacy variables that allow such evaluation of ramosetron in male patients with IBS-D.

Effect of acotiamide on gastric emptying in healthy adult humans.

Background: Acotiamide is a first-in-class drug that is used to treat functional dyspepsia (FD). It is considered that acotiamide acts as an antagonist on muscarinic autoreceptors in the enteric nervous system and inhibits acetylcholinesterase activity. We examined the effect of acotiamide on gastric emptying in healthy adult humans.

Effect of ramosetron on stool consistency in male patients with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.

Background & Aims: Ramosetron, a serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine)-3 receptor antagonist with high selectivity, reduced stress-induced diarrhea and defecation caused by corticotropin-releasing hormone in rats. However, there have been no clinical trials of its effect in patients with diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine whether ramosetron reduces diarrhea in these patients.

A placebo-controlled trial of acotiamide for meal-related symptoms of functional dyspepsia.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of acotiamide, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) in a 4-week trial.

Methods: A multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase III trial was carried out, in which patients with FD received 100 mg of acotiamide or placebo three times a day for 4 weeks, with 4 weeks post-treatment follow-up. The primary efficacy end points were global assessment of overall treatment efficacy (OTE) and elimination rate of all three meal-related symptoms (postprandial fullness, upper abdominal bloating and early satiation), as derived from daily diaries.

Large-scale randomized clinical study on functional dyspepsia treatment with mosapride or teprenone: Japan Mosapride Mega-Study (JMMS).

Background And Aim: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a common condition seen in primary gastroenterology practice. The present study was conducted to compare the clinical effectiveness of mosapride and teprenone in patients with FD.

Methods: Prospective clinical comparative study with random allocation of open labeled medications was performed as a multicenter trial in Japan.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of the effectiveness of the novel serotonin type 3 receptor antagonist ramosetron in both male and female Japanese patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by abdominal discomfort and/or pain associated with altered bowel habits. The neurotransmitter serotonin and serotonin type 3 receptors that are extensively distributed on enteric neurons in the human gastrointestinal tract play a role in increasing the sensation of pain and affecting bowel habits in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the serotonin type 3 receptor antagonist ramosetron hydrochloride in Japanese patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

High prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in medical outpatients in Japan.

Background And Goals: The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among Japanese patients who visit hospitals departments of internal medicine is thought to be high. However, no clear statistical evidence has been provided to support such a claim. We tested the hypotheses that the prevalence of IBS in medical outpatients clinics in Japan is high, and that IBS patients feel more psychosocial stress than patients without IBS.

Urocortin I is present in the enteric nervous system and exerts an excitatory effect via cholinergic and serotonergic pathways in the rat colon.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and urocortin I (UcnI) have been shown to accelerate colonic transit after central nervous system (CNS) or peripheral administration, but the mechanism of their peripheral effect on colonic motor function has not been fully investigated. Furthermore, the localization of UcnI in the enteric nervous system (ENS) of the colon is unknown. We investigated the effect of CRF and UcnI on colonic motor function and examined the localization of CRF, UcnI, CRF receptors, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), and 5-HT.

[BMW diagnostic criteria for IBS].

Rome I diagnostic criteria for IBS was published in 1992 and it became a global diagnostic criteria. However, the criteria was not practical and somewhat complicated. Moreover, its symptomatic duration was too long (defined as more than 3 months) to be introduced in clinical practice.

Design of treatment trials for functional gastrointestinal disorders.

This document addresses the design of trials to assess the efficacy of new treatments for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), emphasizing trials in irritable bowel syndrome and dyspepsia, because most research has been undertaken in these conditions. The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial remains the preferred design. Randomized withdrawal designs, although encouraged by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, have the same potential disadvantages as a crossover design, including carryover effects, unmasking (unblinding), and overestimation of the potential benefit for clinical practice.