Relamorelin beneficial in adults with diabetic gastroparesis

(HealthDay)—For adults with diabetic gastroparesis, relamorelin reduces vomiting frequency and severity and accelerates gastric emptying, according to a study published in the July issue of Gastroenterology.

Anthony Lembo, M.D., from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues conducted a double-blind trial involving 204 patients with diabetic gastroparesis with moderate to severe symptoms and delayed gastric emptying. Patients were randomized to groups receiving placebo or subcutaneous relamorelin 10 µg once or twice per day.

The researchers found that compared with placebo, twice-daily relamorelin correlated with significantly accelerated gastric emptying and reduced vomiting frequency (by about 60 percent) and severity. Relamorelin did not improve other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain and satiety, compared with placebo. A total of 58.3 percent of patients had baseline vomiting; for these patients, twice-daily relamorelin reduced the half-time of gastric emptying and vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, bloating, and early satiety relative to placebo. There were no overall safety concerns.

"The results from this randomized, double-blind, phase 2 trial continue to support that relamorelin is a potent prokinetic agent, as evidenced by significant effects on gastric emptying and important clinically relevant and statistically significant effects on the objective symptom of vomiting," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, which funded the study.

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