Rifaximin, a rifamycin derivative for use in the treatment of intestinal bacterial infections in seriously disabled patients.

This study reports the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness and tolerability of rifaximin, an intestinal topical antibiotic. It was administered using a nasogastric tube in patients with severe enterocolitis and bacterial superinfections causing intestinal inflammatory diseases and portosystemic encephalopathy. The drug proved highly effective clinically and produced neither local nor systemic side-effects.

[Study of intestinal transit using a radioisotope method]. / Studio del transito intestinale con metodo radioisotopico.

Intestinal transit patterns were studied in 20 normal volunteers. It was found that small changes in transit time occurred in the passage from the caecum to the sigmoid and rectum, and that most subjects evacuated the capsule 38 hr after its ingestion.

[Changes in intestinal transit time induced by bromopride in functional diseases of the colon]. / Modificazioni indotte dalla bromopride su tempo di transito intestinale nelle colopatie funzionali.

Intestinal transit time was studied in two groups of 8 patients with irritable colon. In the first group, the time was longer than normal, whereas in the second it was accelerated. Three subjects in each group received a placebo, while the other five received 60 mg/day bromopride for 15 days. No change in transit time was noted in the controls. Two subjects in Group I displayed a significant reduction in transit time after bromopride, while deceleration and normalisation were observed in 4/5 patients in Group II.