抄録
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. Currently, there are no available drug cures, and long-term therapy is required to maintain remission. Mesalazine (5-acetylsalicylic acid [5-ASA]) is the first-line treatment for inflammatory bowel disease and can be used as a single agent to maintain or induce remission. However, poor therapy adherence may lead to relapse. We determined the number of doses of two mesalazine formulations prescribed to patients with UC in Japan. The number of multi-matrix system (MMX) mesalazine doses increased between 2020 and 2022 across age groups. The number of pH-dependent mesalazine doses increased between 2020 and 2021 in all age groups and decreased between 2021 and 2022 in the 20–40 years group. MMX-type mesalazine (Lialda®) is more expensive than other formulations, although it requires fewer doses, and tablets are larger than those of pH-dependent formulations. However, the prescription volume of MMX-type mesalazine (Lialda®) is increasing, suggesting that the number of doses may be a bigger determining factor than tablet size or drug price in diseases requiring continuous drug use. On the other hand, MMX-type mesalazine (Lialda®) is unsuitable for patients who cannot keep the medication under cold storage. Since UC requires long-term management, the drug formulation, number of doses, and dosing frequency should be selected based on the patient’s age, disease stage, and lifestyle.
