Effect of oral granisetron in uremic pruritus.
BACKGROUND
Renal itch is a relatively common and distressing problem for patients with chronic renal failure. Granisetron, is a potent and selective inhibitor of 5-HT3 receptors. There have been some studies about the effect of ondansetron in uremic pruritus and one case report has recently described relief of renal itch with granisetron.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of Granisetron on uremic pruritus in Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) and Hemodialysis (HD) patients.


METHODS
To study the prevalence of uremic pruritus, patients on CAPD and HD were asked to complete a pruritus questionnaire. Their replies were scored based on numerical scales. Pruritus was graded, according to the total points for each patient, as mild, moderate or severe. Fourteen patients with moderate to severe pruritus were enrolled in the trial. During treatment, patients received granisetron (1 mg tablet twice a day P.O), for a period of 1 month. They were asked to score the severity of pruritus twice a day.


RESULTS
Seventy seven percent of the patients responded to the treatment and at 1 st, 2 nd and 4 th week the mean values of the pruritus scores were 23, 16 and 8 points respectively. Before starting treatment the score was 31 points (P =0.03). Weekly clinical and laboratory examination showed no important side effects.


CONCLUSIONS
Granisetron might be an effective, safe and well tolerated drug for the treatment of uremic pruritus.
Department of Dermatology, Qaem Hospital, Mashad University of Medical Sciences, Mashad, Iran. pouran_layegh@yahoo.com
Pouran
P
Layegh
Mohammad Javad
MJ
Mojahedi
Parisa Emamgholi Tabar
PE
Malekshah
Fakhrozaman
F
Pezeshkpour
Mohamad
M
Vahedian
Fatemeh
F
Nazemian
Farzaneh Sharifi
FS
Pour
D000284:Administration, Oral; D017829:Granisetron / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D010531:Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011537:Pruritus / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014511:Uremia / Q000150:complications
D017829:Granisetron; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists