Pilot study of bright-light therapy reflected toward the eyes for the pruritus of chronic liver disease.

Objective: It is proposed that the pruritus of cholestasis is, in part, centrally mediated by endogenous opioid peptides. The expression of these peptides and their receptors on neurons displays a circadian rhythm, as does the scratching activity in patients with cholestasis and pruritus. Because light has regulatory effects on circadian rhythms via retinothalamic pathways, we hypothesized that bright-light therapy (BLT) reflected toward the eyes might alter the pruritus of cholestasis.