Therapeutic Research

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis（IPF）is a chronic, progressive fibrosing interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology with a poor prognosis. Pirfenidone（PFD）is an antifibrotic agent that is used to treat IPF patients, but gastrointestinal（GI）adverse events are common. This study investigated whether impaired gastric emptying was the underlying cause of GI adverse events in patients receiving PFD. Gastric emptying was assessed by the continuous 13C breath test before and after one month PFD therapy, and GI symptoms were assessed by using the modified Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease（MFSSG） questionnaire on IPF patients. The MFSSG score increased after PFD therapy, but gastric emptying was not significantly affected in the calculated parameters, gastric emptying coefficient（GEC）, the analog to the scintigraphy lag time for 10％ emptying labeled meal（Tlag）and half excretion time（T1/2）at a dose of 1200 mg/day. Gastric emptying of IPF patients was not significantly affected by PFD at 1200 mg/day and GI symptoms were tolerable at that dose.