Omega-3 fatty acids for uremic pruritus: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Ping-Hsun Lu; Xiao-Feng Yao; Yang-Sheng Lin; I-Shiang Tzeng; Po-Hsuan Lu; Ko-Lin Kuo

doi:10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_221_21

Omega-3 fatty acids for uremic pruritus: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Tzu Chi Med J. 2022 Jan 31;34(4):394-401. doi: 10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_221_21. eCollection 2022 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Ping-Hsun Lu^{1

2}, Xiao-Feng Yao³, Yang-Sheng Lin^{4

5

6}, I-Shiang Tzeng⁷, Po-Hsuan Lu^{3

4}, Ko-Lin Kuo^{2

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chinese Medicine, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei, Taiwan.
² School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
³ Department of Dermatology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
⁹ Division of Nephrology, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Uremic pruritus (UP) is common in the late stages of chronic kidney disease. Currently, there is a lack of effective treatment for UP. Limited evidence exists on the therapeutic effect of omega-3 fatty acid (O3FA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efﬁcacy of O3FA supplements in UP patients. We evaluated the efﬁcacy of O3FA supplements in patients with UP through a systematic review and a meta-analysis of randomized control trials retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. The included studies were summarized and assessed for the risk of bias, and pruritus assessment results were analyzed. To compared with a controlled group, five articles including 164 participants published between 2012 and 2019 using different pruritus scales reported that patients taking O3FA supplement exhibited no significant decrease in the pruritus score (standardized mean difference [SMD] =1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -2.70-0.01, P = 0.05), but three articles using same pruritus scale signiﬁcant decrease Duo pruritus score (SMD = -0.85, 95% CI = -1.39 to -0.30, P < 0.05). O3FA supplement could be an appealing complementary therapy for UP patients. More rigorously designed studies are needed before recommending the O3FA supplement.

Keywords: Chronic kidney disease; Dialysis; Meta-analysis; Omega-3 fatty acid; Uremic pruritus.

Publication types

Review