Efficacy of 0.1% Tacrolimus Ointment in Korean Patients with Atopic Dermatitis / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Tacrolimus (FK 506) ointment is a recently developed topical immunomodulator, and preliminary studies suggest that topical application of tacrolimus is effective in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 0.1% tacrolimus ointment for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in Korea. METHOD/Patients: A total of 57 patients, 2 to 49 years of age, with moderate to severe AD applied 0.1% tacrolimus ointment twice daily for up to 4 weeks. The mean age of patients was 16.7 years. One-third of the patients had severe atopic dermatitis at baseline. Efficacy was evaluated by the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score. Other evaluations were based on the physician's and patient's global evaluation of clinical response. RESULT: Significantly more patients (p<0.001) achieved clinical improvement with 0.1% tacrolimus ointment 90.0% or better. Marked improvements in the signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis, the EASI score and the patient's assessment of pruritus were also observed early in treatment and were maintained throughout the study. Transient skin burning and itching on the application site were the most common adverse events. Occurrence of these symptoms decreased after first few days of treatment. There was no increase in incidence of other significant adverse events. CONCLUSION: 0.1% tacrolimusimus ointment is safe and effective for the treatment of Korean AD patients.

Development and Expression of Recombinant Ara h 1 Fragment Proteins

No abstract available.

A Study of Food Allergy in Patients with Urticaria / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Although urticaria is a common skin reaction pattern occuring at some time in the life of approximately 15% to 20% of the population, the exact prevalence of food-induced acute or chronic urticaria remains unknown. OBJECT: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of specific food allergies in patients with urticaria and the potential utility of the skin prick test and CAP-RAST FEIA in the diagnosis of food allergy. METHODS: One hundred patients with urticaria were evaluated for food hypersensitivity by history, eosinophil count, IgE, skin prick test, CAP-RAST FEIA, and open food challenge test (OFCT). RESULTS: 1) The prevalence of specific food allergies in the study population was 35% in history and 8, 18 and 6% in prick, CAP-RAST FEIA and OFCT, respectively. 2) The frequent food allergens were milk, egg, peanut, and wheat. 3) There were no correlations between the duration of urticaria and prick test, CAP-RAST FEIA and OFCT results. 4) Serum IgE levels were correlated with the prick test and CAP-RAST FEIA results, but not the OFCT results. 5) According to the history, 35 patients with urticaria answered that their symptoms were related to food, and of the 35 patients, positive reactions to the prick test and CAP-RAST FEIA were observed in 6 and 10 patients, respectively. Among the other 65 patients who answered that there was no relation between urticaria and food, 2 patients reacted positively to the prick test and 8 patients showed positive result to CAP-RAST FEIA. CONCLUSION: In contrast to high prevalence of food history, the prevalence of food-induced allergic urticaria in Korean patients is only 6%. In contrast to the prick test, CAP-RAST FEIA provides a standardized measurement of food specific IgE antibodies, which may be more useful diagnostic test than prick test to diagnose food allergy in urticaria.