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Reduction of autotaxin may decrease itch in cholestatic liver disease
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PARIS — Reduced serum bile acids after treatment with the ileal bile acid transporter inhibitor A4250 correlated with reductions in autotaxin levels among children with cholestatic liver disease and pruritus, according to a presentation at the International Liver Congress 2018.
“Chronic cholestatic liver disease can be responsible for severe itching, especially in children, with devastating consequences on the quality of life and the quality of sleep,” Emmanuel Gonzalès, MD, PhD, from the University Hospitals of Paris-Sud, France, told Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease. “The pathology for this cholestatic itching is not completely understood, but recently it was found that autotaxin ... may be involved.”
The study comprised 20 children who received A4250 orally once a day for 4 weeks at 5 doses ranging between 10 g/kg and 200 g/kg. At baseline, Gonzalès and colleagues observed a significant correlation between autotaxin levels and pruritus score (r = 0.67; P = .001), but not between autotaxin and serum bile acids.
After treatment, most patients in each dose group had reductions in autotaxin levels with an overall mean reduction of 21.5%. Percent decrease in autotaxin correlated with percent decrease in serum bile acids (r = 0.6; P = .003) with a trend toward a correlation between percent decrease in autotaxin and absolute change in pruritus VAS-Itch score.
“While improvements in pruritus in this study have been previously reported to be correlated with reductions in serum bile acids after treatment with A4250, this is the first report of correlation between the reduction in serum bile acids and reduction in autotaxin levels,” Gonzalès said. “Serum bile acids and autotaxin may be two complementary bile markers that can be used in clinical setting for evaluation of itching.” – by Talitha Bennett
For more information:
Gonzalès E, et al. SAT-060. Presented at: International Liver Congress; Apr. 11-15, 2018; Paris, France.
Disclosure: Gonzalès reports he received travel grants and support from Alexion, Astellas, Laboratoires CTRS and Mayoly Spindler.