The drugs, known as H2 blockers, inhibit the production of stomach acid and may put premature infants at risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious inflammation of the intestines. The study appears in the February 2006 Pediatrics and was conducted by researchers in the NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network.
The researchers pointed out that it is not possible to tell from the study whether or not the drugs caused the condition, but nonetheless advised caution with their use for premature infants.
This study strongly suggests that the current practice of prescribing H2 blockers to prevent or treat acid reflux in premature infants needs to be carefully reevaluated by all concerned in light of these new findings, said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health.
Necrotizing enterocolitis affects from 5 to 10 percent of infants born extremely prematurely, explained the study's first author, Ronnie Guillet, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, a member institution of the NICHD Neonatal Research Network.
With necrotizing enterocolitis, tissue lining the wall of the intestines dies. The surviving tissue becomes swollen and inflamed, and the digestive tract is unable to digest or transport food. In some cases, damage to the intestines may require that portions of the intestines be removed. In other cases, the damage is so severe that the infant dies. The cause of the disorder is unknown.
Common H2 blockers are cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), ranitidine (Zantac), and nizatidine (Axid).
To conduct the study, Dr. Guillet and her coworkers anal
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Contact: Robert Bock / Marianne Glass Miller
bockr@mail.nih.gov
301-496-5134
NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
8-Feb-2006