ReviewPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Difelikefalin in the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus: A Systematic Review.
Review in Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Real-world effectiveness and safety of difelikefalin for chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus: a systematic review.Renal failure · 2026Pooled it
- Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus and patient-centred outcomes: a systematic review.Journal of nephrology · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of difelikefalin for pruritus in hemodialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Renal failure · 2024Pooled it
- Difelikefalin in the treatment of hemodialysis patients with pruritus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Influence of Concomitant Opioids on Difelikefalin Treatment Outcomes in Adults with Moderate-to-Severe Pruritus on Maintenance Hemodialysis: Exploratory Analyses.Kidney & blood pressure research · 2026Trial
- HSK21542 in patients with postoperative pain: two phase 3, multicentre, double-blind, randomized, controlled trials.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Triazole 187 is a biased KOR agonist that suppresses itch without sedation and induces anxiolytic-like behaviors in mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Innovative Microneedle Patches for Psoriasis Treatment: A Dual Approach With Methotrexate-Zinc and Difelikefalin for Enhanced Therapeutic Outcomes.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Structural characterization of kappa-opioid receptor dimer in complex with two G proteins.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Rational design of a Kappa opioid receptor peptide agonist with attenuated β-arrestin signaling.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Review
- Novel dual kappa/mu opioid ligands based on a tetrahydroisoquinoline-valine hybrid nucleus.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The efficacy and safety of kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists in patients with uraemic pruritus: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Clinical kidney journal · 2025Article
- Promising Strategies for the Management of Burn-Wound-Associated Pruritus.European burn journal · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Severity of Pruritus in Patients on Hemodialysis: A Cross-Sectional Study.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2025Article
- Synthesis and evaluation of 3,4,5-trisubstituted triazoles as G protein-biased kappa opioid receptor agonists.European journal of medicinal chemistry · 2024Article
- Review
- Contrasting Evolution After Withdrawal of Long-Term Administration of Difelikefalin for CKD-Associated Pruritus.Kidney international reports · 2024Article
- A phase IV, randomised, double-blind, controlled, parallel group trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Balneum Plus versus emollient in the treatment of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus in haemodialysis patients.Clinical kidney journal · 2023Article
- Endogenous Opioid Imbalance as a Potential Factor Involved in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus in Dialysis Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is a chronic condition that significantly reduces the quality of life of patients with end-stage renal disease. The etiology is not fully understood, but imbalance in the activity of the opioid pathways, including downregulation of the kappa-opioid receptor, may contribute to itching sensation. Difelikefalin is a selective, peripherally acting kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist. Recently, difelikefalin has been approved as a first drug for the treatment of pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adult hemodialysis patients. A systematic review of currently available clinical trials was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of difelikefalin in patients with uremic pruritus. A literature review was conducted in May 2022 based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The analyzed clinical trials showed that difelikefalin was effective in reducing pruritus in patients as assessed by the Worst Itching Intensity Numerical Rating Scale. Improvement in quality of life assessed on the basis of the Skindex score and the 5-D itch scale was also noticed. The most commonly reported side effects were mild and included nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and diarrhea. Due to its proven efficacy and good safety profile, difelikefalin is a promising drug for the treatment of pruritus in patients with chronic kidney disease.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.