Effectiveness of a 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor Antagonist for Treating Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea: A Prospective Observational Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Diagnosis of Underlying ILD
2.2. Treatment and Evaluation Schedule
2.3. Questionnaire
2.4. Evaluation of Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea
2.5. Clinical Findings at the Commencement of Ramosetron
2.6. Safety
2.7. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Patient Demographics
3.2. Ramosetron Treatment
3.3. Severity of Diarrhea, Including Frequency and Stool Form, Before and After Commencing Ramosetron
3.4. IBS-QOL Evaluation
3.5. Final Observation
3.6. Safety of Ramosetron
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Approval of IBS-QOL Questionnaire Use
Abbreviations
| IPF | Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis |
| ILD | Interstitial Lung Disease |
| PPF | Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis |
| TKI | Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor |
| PDGF | Platelet-Derived Growth Factor |
| FGF | Fibroblast Growth Factor |
| VEGF | Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor |
| QOL | Quality of Life |
| IBS | Irritable Bowel Syndrome |
| 5-HT | 5-Hydroxytryptamine (Serotonin) |
| 5-HT3 | 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor |
| NHO KCCMC | National Hospital Organization Kinki Chuo Chest Medical Center |
| CTCAE | Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events |
| MCID | Minimal Clinically Important Difference |
| mMRC | Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale |
| FVC | Forced Vital Capacity |
| DLco | Diffusing Capacity of the Lung for Carbon Monoxide |
| KL-6 | Krebs von den Lungen-6 |
| SP-D | Surfactant Protein-D |
| PAP | Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis |
| SSc | Systemic Sclerosis |
| SERT | Serotonin Transporter |
| TpH | Tryptophan Hydroxylase |
| EC Cells | Enterochromaffin Cells |
| SPSS | Statistical Package for the Social Sciences |
| IBS-QOL | Irritable Bowel Syndrome–Quality of Life Questionnaire |
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| Parameters | Frequency or Median (Range) |
|---|---|
| <Baseline> | |
| Gender, Male/Female | 8/3 |
| Age, yrs | 74 (62–84) |
| Smoking. NS/ES or CS | 4/7 |
| Diagnosis of ILDs, IPF/non-IPF * | 5/6 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 22.6 (14.6–29.5) |
| mMRC, <2/2≤ | 3/8 |
| %FVC, % | 62.8 (39.0–146.2) |
| %DLco, % | 43.1 (29.8–63.6) |
| KL-6, x100 U/mL | 8.50 (5.87–12.02) |
| SP-D, ng/mL | 287.4 (120.4–801.5) |
| Loperamide, yes/no | 11/0 |
| Probiotics, yes/no | 9/2 |
| Proton pump inhibitor, yes/no | 1/10 |
| Corticosteroids, yes/no | 1/10 |
| Immunosuppressants, yes/no | 0/11 |
| Dose of nintedanib, 300/200 (mg/day) | 5/6 |
| Days from nintedanib to onset of diarrhea | 143 (1–359) |
| <After Ramosetron initiation> | |
| Days from diarrhea to ramosetron | 489 (105–1211) |
| Nintedanib usage at the final observation | 10/1 ** |
| Initial dose of ramosetron | |
| For male, 5 mg/10 mg | 8/0 |
| For female, 2.5 mg/5 mg | 3/0 |
| Final dose of ramosetron | |
| For male, 5 mg/10 mg | 5/3 |
| For female, 2.5 mg/5 mg | 0 #/1 |
| Ramosetron continuation at the final observation, yes/no | 9/2 # |
| Ramosetron continuation period †, days | 200 (10–861) |
| Outcome †, alive/dead | 11/0 |
| Days from ramosetron to final observation ‡ | 217 (60–861) |
| Days from nintedanib initiation to final observation ‡ | 1020 (482–2374) |
| Before Ramosetron | After Ramosetron ¶,† | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dose of ramosetron | |||
| For males, 5 mg/10 mg | 8/0 | 5/3 ¶ | NE |
| For females, 2.5 mg/5 mg | 1/0 | 0/1 ¶ | NE |
| Stool per day | 6.0 (4–7) | 4.0 (2.0–5.7) | 0.011 |
| Diarrhea CTCAE, 1/2/3 | 0/7/2 | 4/5/0 | 0.014 |
| Downgrade of CTCAE, yes/no | NA | 6/3 | NA |
| Stool form scores # | 2 (2–3) | 1 (1–2) | 0.011 |
| Downgrade of stool form, yes/no | NA | 7/2 | NA |
| Diarrhea severity score ‡ | 12 (8–21) | 4 (2–10) | 0.008 |
| Loperamide dose, mg/day | 2 (1–3) | 2 (0–3) | 0.257 |
| Loperamide dose, decrease/similar/increase | NA | 3/5/1 | NA |
| IBS QOL ** | 66.5 (47.1–82.4) | 73.2 (49.3–89) | 0.161 |
| Improvement of IBS QOL, yes/no | NA | 6/2 | NA |
| Improvement of IBS QOL > MCID §, yes/no | NA | 2/6 | NA |
| Before Ramosetron | After Ramosetron ¶ | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dysphoria | 59.4 (18.8–81.3) | 60.9 (31.3–87.5) | 0.553 |
| Interference with activity | 57.1 (21.4–67.9) | 58.9 (21.4–82.1) | 0.345 |
| Body Image | 84.3 (50–100) | 87.5 (50–100) | 0.450 |
| Health worry | 66.7 (66.7–91.7) | 83.3 (66.7–91.7) | 0.058 |
| Food avoidance | 58.3 (41.7–100) | 75 (41.7–100) | 0.236 |
| Social reaction | 87.5 (56.3–100) | 84.4 (62.5–100) | 0.751 |
| Sexual | 100 (0–100) | 100 (0–100) | 0.593 |
| Relationships | 66.7 (25.0–91.7) | 83.3 (58.3–100) | 0.106 |
| mMRC | Stool Per Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rho | p-Value | Rho | p-Value | |
| Total score | −0.914 | 0.001 | −0.586 | 0.127 |
| Dysphoria | −0.791 | 0.019 | −0.781 | 0.022 |
| Interference with activity | −0.823 | 0.012 | −0.450 | 0.263 |
| Body Image | −0.398 | 0.329 | −0.098 | 0.817 |
| Health worry | −0.542 | 0.165 | 0.141 | 0.739 |
| Food avoidance | −0.567 | 0.143 | −0.755 | 0.030 |
| Social reaction | −0.456 | 0.256 | −0.200 | 0.635 |
| Sexual | −0.156 | 0.713 | −0.391 | 0.338 |
| Relationships | −0.889 | 0.003 | −0.319 | 0.441 |
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Arai, T.; Hirose, M.; Kagawa, T.; Takeuchi, N.; Kobayashi, T.; Inoue, Y.; Matsuda, Y. Effectiveness of a 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor Antagonist for Treating Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea: A Prospective Observational Study. J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14, 7914. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14227914
Arai T, Hirose M, Kagawa T, Takeuchi N, Kobayashi T, Inoue Y, Matsuda Y. Effectiveness of a 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor Antagonist for Treating Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea: A Prospective Observational Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025; 14(22):7914. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14227914
Chicago/Turabian StyleArai, Toru, Masaki Hirose, Tomoko Kagawa, Naoko Takeuchi, Takehiko Kobayashi, Yoshikazu Inoue, and Yoshinobu Matsuda. 2025. "Effectiveness of a 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor Antagonist for Treating Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea: A Prospective Observational Study" Journal of Clinical Medicine 14, no. 22: 7914. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14227914
APA StyleArai, T., Hirose, M., Kagawa, T., Takeuchi, N., Kobayashi, T., Inoue, Y., & Matsuda, Y. (2025). Effectiveness of a 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptor Antagonist for Treating Nintedanib-Induced Diarrhea: A Prospective Observational Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(22), 7914. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14227914

