Plecanatide 3 mg once daily effective for managing severe constipation in adults with CIC or IBS-C

This study found that 3- and 6-mg doses of plecanatide are superior to placebo for patients with severe CIC and IBS-C.

Patients with CIC and IBS-C experience severe symptoms. In this study, the team aimed to evaluate plecanatide in adults with CIC or IBS-C with symptoms of severe constipation.

Data were analyzed post hoc from trials CIC, IBS-C of plecanatide 3 mg, 6 mg, or placebo for 12 weeks. They measured primary efficacy endpoints as durable overall CSBM responders (CIC: ≥3 CSBMs/week, plus increase from baseline of ≥1 CSBM/week, for ≥9 of 12 weeks, including ≥3 of the last four weeks) and overall responders (IBS-C: ≥30% reduction from baseline in abdominal pain and ≥1 CSBM/week increase for ≥6 of 12 weeks.

The research summary could be explained as follows:

• They observed Severe constipation in 24.5% and 24.2% of CIC and IBS-C populations, respectively.
• The CIC durable overall CSBM response rate for plecanatide 3 mg, 6mg and placebo was 20.9%, 20.2% and 11.3%, respectively.
• IBS-C overall response rate for plecanatide 3 mg, 6 mg and placebo was 33.0%, 31.0% and 19.0%, respectively. This was significantly greater with plecanatide in comparison to placebo.
• Median time to first CSBM in CIC and IBS-C populations was shorter with plecanatide 3 mg compared to placebo.

They said Plecanatide effectively manages severe constipation in adults with CIC or IBS-C.

They explained that Constipation severity in CIC and IBS- C strongly correlates with reduced bowel movement frequency and more straining to achieve bowel movements.

The study's strengths are the large population size and rigorous definition of severe constipation.

Study limitations include the post hoc nature of the analysis, limited demographic representation, and lack of generalizability.

Further reading:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nmo.14632