AZIComparison of Two Macrolides, Azithromycin and Erythromycin, for Symptomatic Treatment of Gastroparesis

Gastroparesis (GP) is a chronic gastrointestinal motility disorder resulting from delayed transit of gastric contents from the stomach into the duodenum in the absence of mechanical outlet obstruction. The symptoms of GP are variable but include early satiety, bloating, nausea, vomiting, and epigastric abdominal pain. Although the true prevalence of the disorder is unknown, symptoms suggestive of GP are present in 7-15% of the population with an estimated one-third of diabetic patients in tertiary care settings having abnormal gastric emptying studies. Yet, despite the significant healthcare and economic costs due to frequent hospitalization in these patients, treatment of GP is difficult due to the lack of available treatment options and the often potential side effects of available prokinetic agents, including cardiac side effects such as QT prolongation, sudden cardiac death, and torsade de pointes. One such medication used for treatment of GP is erythromycin. Erythromycin has its drawbacks. Several reports of cardiac arrhythmias associated with use of either oral or intravenous (IV) Erythromycin have been reported. This finding sparked our interest in another macrolide, Azithromycin (AZI), which does not have the drug-drug interactions as seen with erythromycin and is not metabolized by the CYP3A inhibitors, therefore having fewer cardiac side effects. In This study our primary goal is to determine whether AZI can be used to treat GP.