Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33754202›Full record

Trial reportClinical and experimental nephrology2021

Anti-pruritic effect of nemolizumab in hemodialysis patients with uremic pruritus: a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.

Eriko Kinugasa, Ken Igawa, Hisaki Shimada, Morihiro Kondo, Satoshi Funakoshi, Naoki Imada, Noritomo Itami, Naoki Fukazawa, Ryoko Takubo, Yuichi Kawata and 1 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Clinical and experimental nephrology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
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  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Identification and Management of CKD-Associated Pruritus: Current Insights.International journal of nephrology and renovascular disease · 2024
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Uremic Pruritus: From Diagnosis to Treatment.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Eriko KinugasaShowa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, 35-1 Chigasaki-chuo, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 224-8503, Japan. kinugasa@med.showa-u.ac.jp.
Ken IgawaDokkyo Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Hisaki ShimadaShinrakuen Hospital, Niigata, Japan.
Morihiro KondoRakuwakai Tojiminami Hospital, Kyoto, Japan.
Satoshi FunakoshiNagasaki Kidney Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
Naoki ImadaNishijin Hospital, Kyoto, Japan.
Noritomo ItamiItami Kidney Clinic, Hokkaido, Japan.
Naoki FukazawaChugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Ryoko TakuboChugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Yuichi KawataChugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Hiroyuki MurotaNagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Dokkyo Medical University · JPNagasaki University · JPNishijin Hospital · JPShinrakuen Hospital · JPShowa University Northern Yokohama Hospital · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe pathophysiology of uremic pruritus (UP), which is characterized by systemic and intractable itching, remains unclear. As interleukin (IL)-31 may be involved, we conducted a phase II, randomized, controlled study to evaluate nemolizumab (anti-IL-31 receptor A antibody) in Japanese hemodialysis patients with UP.

methodsPatients were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1:1) to one of four double-blind groups (receiving a single subcutaneous injection of nemolizumab 0.125, 0.5, or 2.0 mg/kg, or placebo on Day 1) or an open-label reference group (receiving oral nalfurafine hydrochloride 2.5-5 μg once daily for 12 weeks). The primary endpoint was the difference in the absolute change in pruritus visual analog scale (VAS) at Week 4 between placebo and each nemolizumab group.

resultsThe primary efficacy endpoint was not met. The mean change from baseline with all three nemolizumab doses at Week 1, and with 0.5 mg/kg at Week 4, was greater than with placebo. Least square mean differences (95% confidence intervals) in the absolute changes between the placebo arm and each nemolizumab arm were - 2.4 (- 19.7, 14.9) for 0.125 mg/kg, - 8.7 (- 26.6, 9.2) for 0.5 mg/kg, and 0.4 (- 17.0, 17.8) for 2.0 mg/kg. Secondary efficacy parameters including the Shiratori severity score and 5-D itch score failed to show between-group differences. Patients with higher serum IL-31 levels at screening tended to have greater pruritus VAS reductions following nemolizumab treatment.

conclusionsIn this phase II study in patients with UP, the primary efficacy parameter was not met. Nemolizumab was generally well tolerated with no clinically significant safety concerns. CLINICAL

trial registrationJAPIC: JapicCTI-152961, https://www.clinicaltrials.jp/cti-user/trial/ShowDirect.jsp?japicId=JapicCTI-152961 .

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansKidney Failure, ChronicMaleMiddle AgedPruritusReceptors, InterleukinUremiaAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedIL31RA protein, humannemolizumabReceptors, InterleukinHemodialysisIL-31ItchNemolizumabUremic pruritus

Identifiers

PMID33754202
PMCPMC8260520
OpenAlexW3139379013

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.