RECENT ADVANCE IN BASIC SCIENCE
Medical devices with hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate for gastrosesophageal reflux disease
C. Romano
Direttore A.O. Universitaria “G. Martino” Messina
Medical devices (MedDev) are defined as “any instrument… material or article intended by the manufacturer to be used, alone or in combination, for human beings for one or more of the following medical purposes: … prevention… treatment or alleviation of disease… modification of anatomy or physiological or pathological processes… and does not achieve its principal intended action by pharmacological, immunological, or metabolic means in or on the human body, but which may be assisted in its function by such means”. A medical device based on a mixture of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate in a bioadhesive carrier, Lutrol® F 127, has been proposed for the treatment of the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease with a persistent mucosal barrier that acts as a buffering agent. Ex vivo studies were performed in the swine model and in the adult population, while no experience exists in the pediatric population. MedDev can be used in association with acid secretion inhibitor drugs and enhance the drug’s action by favoring faster mucosal healing.