Minerva medica
-
Comparative Study
[Endoscopic evaluation of the effects of diacerhein and naproxen on the gastroduodenal mucosa].
The potential capacity of diacerheine (DAR), a new drug known to have no anti-prostaglandin effect and therefore a different action mechanism from the standard non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, to cause damage to the gastroduodenal mucosa was compared with that of a well-known NSAID, naproxene. Gastroscopic examination of 10 + 10 patients before and 4 weeks after treatment showed that DAR produced endoscopic lesions without subjective symptoms in 10% of the patients whereas naproxene produced lesions of varying size in 50%, with or without symptoms.