RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Oral esomeprazole 40 mg provides greater acid control than oral pantoprazole 40 mg. AIM: To compare the effects on intragastric acid control of esomeprazole 40 mg administered intravenously with pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously. METHODS: Healthy Helicobacter pylori-negative male and female subjects were enrolled into this single-centre, open, randomized, two-way crossover study. Esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously and pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously were administered as 15-min infusions once daily at 09:00 hours for 5 days. Continuous 24-h intragastric pH monitoring was carried out at baseline and on days 1 and 5. RESULTS: pH-data were available for all 25 subjects who completed the study. Esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously resulted in 8.3 and 13.9 h with an intragastric pH > 4 on days 1 and 5 compared with 5.3 and 9.0 h, respectively for pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously (day 1: P < 0.001, day 5: P < 0.0001). During the first 4 h of dosing on day 1 corresponding values were 1.7 and 0.6 h respectively (P < 0.0001). A mean median pH above 4 on day 5 was only attained with esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously. CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily dosing with esomeprazole 40 mg intravenously provides faster and more pronounced intragastric acid control than pantoprazole 40 mg intravenously.