Abstract
Background: Pruritus is one of the most common and disabling symptoms of liver disease
such as Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Primary Biliary Cholangitis. Cholestyramine, rifampin,
opioid antagonists, antihistaminic agents and SSRIs are used for the management of pruritus. Due to
rifampin drug interactions as well as its serious side effects such as hepatotoxicity, clinicians are endeavoruing
to find a safer and a more effective substitution.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of sertraline with rifampin
in the management of cholestatic pruritus.
Methods: In a single-blinded randomized clinical trial a total of 36 patients of PSC and PBC were
divided into two equal groups, one group received 100 mg/day sertraline and the other group received
rifampin 300 mg/day for 4 weeks. Visual analog scale was used to record pruritus severity at
baseline and 4 weeks after drug intervention, also, ALT, AST, ALP and total bilirubin of all patients
were measured at three different time points.
Results: Over the follow-up period, pruritus had relieved in both groups, but there was no significant
differences between sertraline and rifampin in pruritus management (pvalue=0.740), also there was no
significant difference between the two intervention strategies (A versus B) in total bilirubin level
(pvalue=0.106). Moreover, the ALT, AST and ALP levels were found to be significantly different between
the two groups (Pvalue˂0.01).
Conclusion: There is no difference between sertraline and rifampin in pruritus improvement, but sertraline
has less adverse effects on hepatobiliary enzyme levels, so it seems to be safer than rifampin.
Keywords:
Cholestasis, hepatotoxicity, pruritus, rifampin, randomized clinical trial, sertraline.
Graphical Abstract
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