Title: Odevixibat as an adjunctive treatment for refractory pruritus in rare variants of cholestatic liver disease
Source: JPGN Reports 2024, 5 (3): 296-302
Date of publication: April 2024
Publication type: Case reports
Abstract: Objectives: Odevixibat, a reversible ileal bile acid transport inhibitor, has been shown to reduce serum bile acids (sBA) and pruritus mostly in children with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) 1 and 2 in clinical trials and case reports. There are currently no published case reports or series describing its use in rare variants of cholestatic liver disease.
Methods: We describe three children with progressive cholestatic liver disease who developed refractory pruritus, who had a genotypic diagnosis of AKR1D1, ABCB4 variant, and PKHD1 and PKHD2 variants; all being variants of unknown significance as per the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines.
Results: On Odevixibat there was a significant improvement in sBA (absolute change from baseline: -196 and -393 μmol/L) and pruritus in two children with heterozygous AKR1D1 and ABCB4 mutations. The child with ABCB4 variants was found to have features of sclerosing cholangitis along with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease, which represents the first reported usage of Odevixibat in such a case with good response. There was some reported improvement in the third child with PKHD1 and PKHD2 variants; however, we hypothesize that no sustained improvement could be due to severe and progressive nature of the disease. There were no side effects reported and it was well tolerated in all.
Conclusion: We suggest that Odevixibat may be used as an adjunctive drug in refractory pruritus and could be started early in the course of disease if clinically and phenotypically indicated.
