Could Antacid Treatment Benefit Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients?
Antacids do not appear to significantly influence disease progression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but they could increase the risk of infection in those with advanced IPF, according to new research.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a potential risk factor for IPF. For this reason, researchers aimed to investigate the effects of antacid therapy on IPF disease progression.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Study: Acid Reflux Drug Increases Kidney Disease Risk
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Older Adults: What Is the Difference?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To conduct their study, researchers assessed 624 patients with IPF who were randomly assigned to placebo during 3 large, phase 3 trials of pirfenidone, an anti-fibrotic drug. Researchers analyzed the effects of antacid therapy from baseline for pulmonary function, exercise tolerance, survival, hospital admission, and adverse events over 52 weeks. Of the participants, 291 were given antacid therapy and 333 were not.
After 1 year, researchers found that disease progression, mortality rates, 6-minute walk distance, lung capacity, and hospital admission rates were similar between the 2 groups.
However, patients with advanced IPF who received antacid therapy were more likely to develop an infection.
“Antacid therapy did not improve outcomes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and might potentially be associated with an increased risk of infection in those with advanced disease,” researchers concluded.
—Amanda Balbi
Reference:
Kreuter M, Wuyts W, Renzoni E, et al. Antacid therapy and disease outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a pooled analysis [published online March 31, 2016]. Lancet Respir Med. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(16)00067-9.