Esomeprazole 40 mg Provides Improved Intragastric Acid Control as Compared with Lansoprazole 30 mg and Rabeprazole 20 mg in Healthy Volunteers

AIM: To compare the effects of standard-dose esomeprazole with those of standard doses of lansoprazole and rabeprazole on intragastric pH during repeated daily oral dosing in healthy volunteers. METHODS: In two standardized, randomized crossover studies, Helicobacter pylori negative healthy volunteers (study A: 19 males, 5 females; study B: 13 males, 10 females) received esomeprazole 40 mg and either lansoprazole 30 mg (study A) or rabeprazole 20 mg (study B) orally once daily in the morning for 5 days. Continuous 24-hour intragastric pH recording was performed on day 5. RESULTS: The intragastric pH was maintained >4 for 65% (95% CI 59.5-71.3) of the 24-hour period with esomeprazole and for 53% of the time (95% CI 47.0-58.9) with lansoprazole in study A (p < 0.001). In study B, the proportion of time with pH >4 was 61% (95% CI 53.6-68.3) with esomeprazole versus 45% (95% CI 37.7-52.5) with rabeprazole (p = 0.005). The 24-hour median pH and the proportion of volunteers with intragastric pH >4 for > or =12 h and > or =16 h were significantly higher with esomeprazole than with either lansoprazole or rabeprazole. CONCLUSION: Esomeprazole 40 mg provides significantly more effective and more sustained gastric acid control than lansoprazole 30 mg or rabeprazole 20 mg in healthy volunteers.