Aug 2012
Topical Aprepitant in Clinical and Experimental Pruritus
Arch Dermatol. 2012;148(8):957-959. doi:10.1001/archdermatol.2012.1018
Peroral aprepitant is a nonpeptide inhibitor of tachykinin receptor NK1 approved for use as an antiemetic drug for chemotherapy-induced nausea. Duval and Dubertret1 first reported that peroral aprepitant effectively reduced pruritus in 3 patients with Sézary syndrome. Similar results were obtained later for 6 of 7 patients with erythrodermic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.2 Ständer et al3 reported an open-label study of 20 patients with chronic pruritus treated for a week with peroral aprepitant. It has been suggested that the effects of aprepitant are related to its preventing of mast-cell activation in the skin.4 The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis with topical aprepitant.