Thursday, July 16, 2026

11:15 AM - 1:15 PM

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Not many branches of biomedical sciences had such a revolutionary progress as gastrointestinal (GI) pharmacology - that happens to be one of the oldest sections of IUPHAR. The first breakthrough came from the lab of Sir James Black, Nobel Laureate at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK, with the discovery of H2 receptor antagonist cimetidine that selectively decreased gastric acid secretion for the control of gastroduodenal (‘peptic’) ulcers. Subsequently, proton pump inhibitors (PPI), first omeprazole in the labs of late George Sacks (UCLA), then lansoprazole, synthesized by Hiroshi Satoh (Takeda) turned out to be even more potent drugs & with longer duration of action (often for 24 hrs). The concept of ‘gastric cytoprotection”, commonly known as gastroprotection, described by Andre Robert in 1979 promised a new line of endogenous & exogenous compounds & a few of these gastroprotective drugs are in clinical use. Dopamine agonists are surprising novel candidates both for upper & lower GI tract. The last, clinically very relevant breakthrough came from the Australian Nobel Prize winners Barry Marshall & Robin Warren for their discovery of the bacterium H. Pylori in the role in gastritis & gastroduodenal ulceration that opened new avenues to treat ulcer disease.

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