Efficient Treatment of Biliary Colics with Loxiglumide

Abstract

The recent development of antagonists of cholecystokinin (CCK) has not only generated great interest in the scientific and medical community [1], but the CCK antagonist may also have therapeutic potentials and represent a new class of therapeutic drugs. The role of CCK in regulating biliary motility has been extensively described in various chapters of Part 3 of this book and will therefore not be discussed here. The potent antagonistic effect of CCK blockers on gallbladder motility are the basis for its application in biliary colics [2,3]. Biliary colics are thought to result from intense contractions of the gallbladder when a stone obstructs the outlet. CCK antagonists can then induce relaxation of the gallbladder which forms the basis of the hypothesis that these agents might be beneficial in treating biliary colics. In this pilot trial, the effect of loxiglumide (50 mg by slow i.v. injection or 400 mg orally) was tested in nine patients with biliary colics due to cholecystolithiasis.

Supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 3.890–0.88).