ArticlePloS one2017
Long-term efficacy and safety of nalfurafine hydrochloride on pruritus in chronic liver disease patients: Patient-reported outcome based analyses.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Treatments for Cholestatic Pruritus: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2022Pooled it
- Randomized controlled trial of nalfurafine for refractory pruritus in hemodialysis patients.Renal failure · 2023Trial
- Kappa opioid receptors in excitatory spinal neurons gate acute pain: evidence from mouse and human.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- New and emerging treatments for PBC-related pruritus.Drugs in context · 2026Review
- Nalfurafine is Aversive at Antinociceptive Doses in Mice.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2025Article
- κ-Opioid Receptor Agonists as Robust Pain-Modulating Agents: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential in Pain Modulation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Factors influencing and enhancing health-related quality of life in sarcopenia patients with liver cirrhosis: A comprehensive review.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Review
- Pruritus in Chronic Cholestatic Liver Diseases, Especially in Primary Biliary Cholangitis: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Promising Strategies for the Management of Burn-Wound-Associated Pruritus.European burn journal · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Plasma Opioid and Serum Lipocalin-2 Levels in Pruritic Skin Diseases.Juntendo medical journal · 2025Article
- Synthesis and evaluation of 3,4,5-trisubstituted triazoles as G protein-biased kappa opioid receptor agonists.European journal of medicinal chemistry · 2024Article
- Contingent administration of typical and biased kappa opioid agonists reduces cocaine and oxycodone choice in a drug vs. food choice procedure in male rhesus monkeys.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Systematic review: efficacy of therapies for cholestatic pruritus.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2023Review
- Article
- Cholestatic Itch: Our Current Understanding of Pathophysiology and Treatments.American journal of clinical dermatology · 2022Review
- Shorter pruritus period and milder disease stage are associated with response to nalfurafine hydrochloride in patients with chronic liver disease.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Novel Kappa-Opioid Receptor Agonist for the Treatment of Cholestatic Pruritus: Systematic Review.JMIR dermatology · 2022Article
- Antipruritic Effects of Kappa Opioid Receptor Agonists: Evidence from Rodents to Humans.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2022Article
- The kappa-opioid receptor agonist, triazole 1.1, reduces oxycodone self-administration and enhances oxycodone-induced thermal antinociception in male rats.Psychopharmacology · 2021Article
- Antipruritic Effect of Nalbuphine, a Kappa Opioid Receptor Agonist, in Mice: A Pan Antipruritic.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimAmong various symptoms accompanied with chronic liver disease, pruritus affects the quality of life of patients, causing physical and mental stress, and worsens hepatic function. Recently, κ-opioid receptor agonist, nalfurafine hydrochloride was approved to treat central pruritus in patients with liver disease in Japan. This study aimed to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of nalfurafine hydrochloride on pruritus in chronic liver disease patients.
methodsA patient-reported outcome using questionnaire-based methods was used for 41 liver disease patients with or without pruritus symptoms. Nalfurafine hydrochloride (2.5 μg/day) was orally administered to 18 patients suffering from pruritus symptoms and whose current treatment was not effective. The same questionnaires and visual analogue scales (VAS) were repeatedly followed up for the patients for the entire follow-up period, and biochemical analyses were performed to evaluate the safety of the treatment.
resultsPruritus completely disappeared in seven of 18 cases, and VAS scores showed a decreasing trend over time from the start of nalfurafine hydrochloride administration in all patients who received the medication. Among 11 patients who were followed up for more than 12 weeks, nine patients showed continuous improvement of symptoms, and this progress was still apparent at ≥20 weeks after starting administration (p < 0.0001). The medication was discontinued in four patients because of progression of primary disease, high cost, oral dryness, and anemia. No significant toxicity was observed on the serum biochemical analyses.
conclusionsNalfurafine hydrochloride contributed to long-term suppression of pruritus without significant safety problems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.