Heartburn Drug Slows Chronic Heart Failure

An over-the-counter medication used to treat heartburn and acid reflux also appears to help decrease the debilitating effects of chronic heart failure (CHF), according to a new study.

Researchers at the Japanese National Cardiovascular Center (NCVC, Suita, Japan) conducted a prospective study in which 25 patients with both CHF and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) were given famotidine, a histamine h(2) blocker used to treat heartburn, and 25 patients were given an alternate heartburn medication called teprenone, which works by causing the stomach to secret more mucous to coat and protect itself against excess acid.

After 24 weeks, the researchers discovered that those patients receiving 30 mg doses of famotidine each day were displaying less-severe symptoms of CHF. Both left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic lengths (LVDd and LVDs, respectively) and the plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels with unaltered fractional shortening (FS) were decreased. The frequency of re-admission because of worsening of CHF was lower in the famotidine group. In contrast, teprenone had no effects on CHF. All patients were examined by three independent cardiologists who were unaware of the treatment protocols to ensure unbiased results. The results of the study were published in the October 3, 2006, edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"We performed the present prospective study with only 50 CHF patients,” said lead author Masafumi Kitakaze, M.D., Ph.D. "Now we need to conduct a large-scale trial to confirm the present findings. The large-scale trial based on the results of our present research may not help current heart-failure patients because it takes time, but we hope it helps our children and grandchildren and others in the future.”

The researchers speculated that blocking the effects of histamine h(2) released by damaged heart cells would slow the development of heart failure. Histamine h(2) also contributes to chronic heartburn and stomach ulcers. Famotidine prevents the chemical from binding to its receptor and causing these problems.



Related Links:
Japanese National Cardiovascular Center