Interní Med. 2013; 15(5): 179-183

Rabeprazole: a second-generation proton pump inhibitor

prof.MUDr.Petr Dítě, DrSc.¹, MUDr.Hana Nechutová, Ph.D.², MUDr.Pavel Svoboda, Ph.D.¹, MUDr.Bohumil Kianička, Ph.D.², MUDr.Pavel Klvaňa¹, MUDr.Tomáš Kupka¹, doc.MUDr.Arnošt Martínek, CSc.¹

¹ Interní klinika Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Akademické centrum gastroonkologie Lékařská fakulta Ostrava

² II. interní klinika FN u sv. Anny v Brně, LF MU Brno

The introduction in the 1980s of proton pump inhibitors in the treatment of diseases, collectively referred to as gastric acid-related diseases,

became a major breakthrough in terms of treatment efficacy for these conditions. Currently, proton pump inhibitors are divided

into first-generation drugs (omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole) and second-generation drugs that include esomeprazole, the optical

isomer of omeprazole, and rabeprazole. Rabeprazole is the most recent of the proton pump inhibitors available at the Czech pharmaceutical

market. As other proton pump inhibitors, rabeprazole is safe and its advantage, in comparison with first-generation drugs, is

a rapid onset of suppression of gastric acid production and, thus, a rapid onset of improvement of clinical symptoms. The duration of

active suppression of gastric hydrochloric acid is long, lasting 14–16 hours, and the rate of side effects of treatment, such as headache

or diarrhea, is not higher than 1.6%. Clinical trials demonstrate a very good efficacy in persons with GERD; rabeprazole as part of H.

pylori eradication schedule is not superior to, for instance, the use of eradication schedule with omeprazole. A good therapeutic effect

has been described in the treatment of acute bleeding from ulcer lesions, primarily managed endoscopically, in which rabeprazole administered

orally was as effective as omeprazole given intravenously. Due to the differences of rabeprazole metabolism by cytochrome

P450 compared to other proton pump inhibitors, there are fewer drug interactions with rabeprazole. Rabeprazole is a drug with a high

therapeutic efficacy for diseases related to the presence of gastric hydrochloric acid.

Keywords: proton pump inhibitor, gastroesophageal reflux, ulcer disease, rabeprazole

Published: June 1, 2013  Show citation