Recently identified low levels of metabolite biomarkers in blood plasma may contribute to symptoms of chronic pruritus of unknown origin (CPUO), new research suggests.
For the study, published in Scientific Reports, University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers compared blood plasma samples from patients with CPUO and matched healthy controls. They found lower levels of nine amino acids in the CPUO patients compared to the control group and that the lower levels correlated with itch severity.
Previous animal studies correlated low levels of these amino acids, which support neurotransmitters, with itch symptoms in mice.
“Our study found a distinct deficit in certain metabolite biomarkers, including several important amino acids and other metabolites involved in immune system regulation in patients with CPUO compared to a healthy control group,” said study principal investigator Shawn Kwatra, MD, the Joseph W. Burnett Endowed Professor and Chair of Dermatology at UMSOM and Chief of Service Dermatology at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). “This is an exciting finding because it provides novel insights into the cause of this condition and identifies potential future therapeutic targets to consider.”
“Many of these biomarkers that we found in depleted amounts in the blood of CPUO patients, like tryptophan and glycine, could contribute to the underlying pathogenesis of this condition, but we certainly need larger studies to investigate this further,” said Dr. Kwatra.
Study co-authors also included faculty from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Duke University Medical Center.
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