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A B S T R A C TRenal pruritus (RP) is a condition or symptom that is often found in end-stagechronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing hemodialysis (HD). The etiology of RP ismultifactorial, one of it due to inflammation mediated by interleukin 2 (IL-2). Studyon the correlation between serum level of IL-2 and the severity of RP is still limited.This study will analyze the correlation between serum level of IL-2 in patientsundergoing HD and the severity of RP. Our method is cross sectional design atHemodialysis Installation of Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Hospital. Serum level of IL-2examined by ELISA, the severity of RP assessed by a 5 dimensional pruritus scale.Inclusion criteria in this study included HD patients with RP ≥ 9, age ≥ 18 years andwilling to sign informed consent. The results from 28 male (59.6%) and 19 female(40.4%) are the mean serum level of IL-2 (pg/ml) is 0.424 ± 0.077. The mean RPseverity score is 18.98 ± 2.74. A strong positive correlation between serum level ofIL-2 and the severity of RP (r = 0.750, p = 0,000). Our conclusion is the increase ofserum level IL-2 in line with severity of RP.

Background Although chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) remains a frequent and frustrating symptom in patients with advanced kidney diseases, its optimal treatments are not well defined. Based on its mechanism of action, as a histamine-1 (H1), 5-(hydroxytryptamine) HT2, and 5HT3-receptor blocker, mirtazapine may be effective in the treatment of CKD-aP. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of mirtazapine for the treatment of pruritus in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Methods A before–after clinical trial was conducted from September 2018 until March 2019, on 30 HD-patients that had been referred to the HD ward of a tertiary hospital, in Hamadan, Iran. After the 2-week washout period, mirtazapine was administered with a dosage of 15 mg/day for an additional 2 weeks. At baseline and at each dialysis session, the effects of the mirtazapine on the pruritus severity based on the visual analogue scale (VAS) and degree of sleep interference resulting from the pruritus were asked and recorded. Additionally, at the baseline and the end of 2 weeks of treatment, the serum histamine and serotonin levels, as the main chemical pruritogens evoking pruritus symptoms, were also determined. Results Twenty-seven patients completed the entire course of the study. Based on the general linear model analysis, a progressive decline in the mean VAS score was observed over time during the study. The mean VAS score decreased from 8.48 ± 1.01 at baseline to 1.04 ±0.79 at the end of treatment (P-value