Efficacy of oral famotidine and 2 omeprazole formulations for the control of intragastric pH in dogs.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the efficacy of commonly used acid suppressants on intragastric pH in dogs. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of oral famotidine, 2 formulations of omeprazole, and placebo on intragastric pH in dogs with a catheter-free, continuous pH monitoring system. ANIMALS: Six healthy adult mixed-breed colony dogs. METHODS: Utilizing a randomized, 4-way cross over, open-label study, dogs were administered famotidine PO (1.0-1.3 mg/kg q12h), omeprazole tablet (1.5-2.6 mg/kg q24h), omeprazole reformulated paste (RP) (Gastrogard, 1.5-2.6 mg/kg q24h), and placebo for 7 days followed by a 10-day washout period. Radiotelemetric pH capsules were placed with gastroscopy assistance to continuously record intragastric pH for 4 days (days 4-7 of dosing). The percentage of time that intragastric pH was ≥3 and ≥4 was compared among treatment groups using repeated measures of analysis of variance. Tukey's Studentized range test was used to determine which groups were different with α= 0.05. RESULTS: Mean ± SD percent time intragastric pH was ≥3 and ≥4 was 22 ± 8% and 14 ± 6% for famotidine, 63 ± 14% and 52 ± 17% for omeprazole tablet, 54 ± 17% and 44 ± 18% for omeprazole RP, and 6 ± 6% and 5 ± 5% for placebo. Both omeprazole formulations significantly increased intragastric pH compared with famotidine and placebo, but omeprazole tablet and RP was not significantly different from each other. CONCLUSION: Oral omeprazole tablet and RP provide superior gastric acid suppression to famotidine, and should therefore be considered more effective for the treatment of acid related disorders in dogs.