Uremic pruritus is chronic itching that occurs in patients with advanced or end-stage renal disease. It is one of common symptoms in patients with end-stage renal disease with approximately 60–90% of patients on hemodialysis (HD) suffering from this problem. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prescribing Gabapentin or Omega-3 alone or in combination for relieving uremic pruritus in Iraqi patients undergoing hemodialysis. The results showed that all the three involved regimens (gabapentin,omega-3,and the combination of both drugs) had significantly reduced the pruritus score. Furthermore,the combination was significantly superior to other regimens in reducing pruritus score,while no significant effect was observed by all the regimens on interleukin-6 or on parathyroid hormone serum levels. In Conclusion Gabapentin 100mg plus 1000mg omega-3 based fish oil capsules containing 120mg is superior to gabapentin 100mg capsule or 1g of omega-3 based fish oil capsule containing 120mg docosahexaenoic acid and 180mg ecosapentaenoic acid (each alone),in reducing pruritus score in a sample of Iraqi patients.
Immunological Effects of Fish Oil on Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease