About the Authors

Toshio Watanabe

watanabet@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Toshihisa Takeuchi

Affiliation Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan

Osamu Handa

Affiliation Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Yasuhisa Sakata

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan

Tetsuya Tanigawa

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Masatsugu Shiba

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Yuji Naito

Affiliation Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Kazuhide Higuchi

Affiliation Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan

Kazuma Fujimoto

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan

Toshikazu Yoshikawa

Affiliation Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Tetsuo Arakawa

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Competing Interests

YN has received research grants from Eisai Co., Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. KH has received research grants and speaker’s fee from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. TA has received research grants from Eisai Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd provided rebamipide and identical placebo. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: TW YN KH KF TY TA. Performed the experiments: TW T. Takeuchi OH YS T. Tanigawa. Analyzed the data: MS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TW T. Tanigawa. Wrote the paper: TW TA.