A Phase 4 interventional study of Anrikefon and Nalfurafine in Pruritus Chronic, Kidney Diseases, Chronic and Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, sponsored by Zhujiang Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-25.
Sponsored by Zhujiang Hospital · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare a new intravenous drug, Anruikefen, with a traditional oral medication, nalfurafine orally disintegrating tablets, in improving sleep quality in patients with chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus. Sleep quality will be primarily assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The study will also evaluate the safety of Anruikefen.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Participants will:
This study adopts an open-label, randomized controlled design and enrolls patients with CKD-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) with a WI-NRS score ≥4. Participants are randomized to receive either anrikefon intravenous injection (0.3 μg/kg, three times per week) or nalfurafine orally disintegrating tablets administered orally (2.5 μg/day) for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint is the difference in sleep quality improvement assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Secondary endpoints include Skindex-10, the 5-D Itch Scale, WI-NRS, KDQOL-36, Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), mechanical pain threshold, and serum proteomic analyses. Vital signs, laboratory parameters, and adverse events are monitored throughout the study to comprehensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of the two κ-opioid receptor agonist therapies.
3,090 studies on the registry are indexed under Renal Insufficiency, Chronic; 698 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 73 across 2,157 interventional studies indexed under Renal Insufficiency, Chronic.
Browse Renal Insufficiency, Chronic studies →Zhujiang Hospital is the lead sponsor of 202 studies on the registry; 96 are open to participants now.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Meet the diagnostic criteria for chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP).
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants with other serious systemic diseases that may affect their ability to participate in the study, as assessed by the investigator, including but not limited to:
Patients who have used the following drugs within 7 days before screening:
Severe hematological and liver function abnormalities during screening, meeting any one of the following clinical laboratory test results:
Liver function:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Investigational drug or device
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Excipients
The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receive anrikefon injection at a dose of 0.3 μg/kg, administered three times per week after dialysis, for 4 consecutive weeks.
Drug: Anrikefon
Participants receive nalfurafine hydrochloride orally disintegrating tablets at a dose of 2.5 μg per day, administered orally after dinner, for 4 weeks.
Drug: Nalfurafine
intravenous administration
Also known as: HSK21542
oral administration
Also known as: TRK-820, Nalfurafine hydrochloride
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: Baseline, 4 weeks after medication
5D-itching scale
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: Baseline,2/4 weeks after medication
Skindex-10 scale
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: Baseline,1 /2 /3/ 4 weeks after medication
WI-NRS score
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: Baseline, every dialysis day during the treatment period
Kidney Disease Quality of Life instrument™ - 36 items
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: Baseline, 4 weeks after medication
Patient Global Impression of Change
Questionnaire survey
Time frame: 4 weeks after medication
Mechanical pain threshold
The electronic pressure sensor pain measurement method involves connecting a probe with a relatively thin tip to a force sensor. Based on the principle of Newton's third law, it records in real time the magnitude of the force applied by the probe to the pain measurement site. The pressure number at which the subject first feels pain is the pain threshold.
Time frame: Baseline, 4 weeks after medication
Peripheral blood metabolomics analysis
Peripheral blood samples will be analyzed using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.
Time frame: Baseline, 4 weeks after medication
Peripheral blood proteomics analysis
The proteins in blood will be digested with trypsin to obtain peptides. The peptides will be analyzed by liquid nanochromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The identification of the proteins will be carried out using the UniProt Homo Sapiens database using the Proteome Discoverer software (ThermoFisher Scientific). All proteomic markers in capillary blood will be reported in arbitrary units as a relative unit of measurement.
Time frame: Baseline, 4 weeks after medication
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Studies of the drug tested here: Anrikefon
Renal Insufficiency, Chronic →