Clinical Efficacy of Subcutaneous Allergen Immunotherapy in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

PURPOSE: The clinical usefulness of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) is still controversial. We analyzed the clinical efficacy of SCIT in patients with AD and the clinical characteristics of patients showing a favorable clinical response to the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and fifty one patients with AD sensitized to house dust mite (HDM) were treated by SCIT using HDM extract. The clinical severity of AD was measured using the standardized clinical severity scoring system for AD (SCORAD) at baseline and 12 months. A favorable clinical response to SCIT was defined as a decrease in SCORAD value at 12 months greater than 50% compared to baseline value. Severe AD was defined as a baseline SCORAD value above 50. RESULTS: A favorable clinical response to SCIT was observed in 73.6% of patients. The proportion of patients showing a favorable clinical response to SCIT was significantly higher in patients with severe AD (90.6%) than patients with mild to moderated AD (63.7%) (p<0.001). Patients with severe AD showing a favorable clinical response had a significantly shorter duration of AD (12.3±8.5 years; mean±SD) than patients with severe AD showing no significant clinical response (20.6±10.9 years) (p<0.05) at baseline. CONCLUSION: SCIT could be a clinically useful therapeutic option for patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM. Early initiation of SCIT might provide a favorable clinical outcome in patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM.

Clinical Efficacy of Subcutaneous Allergen Immunotherapy in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

PURPOSE: The clinical usefulness of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) is still controversial. We analyzed the clinical efficacy of SCIT in patients with AD and the clinical characteristics of patients showing a favorable clinical response to the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and fifty one patients with AD sensitized to house dust mite (HDM) were treated by SCIT using HDM extract. The clinical severity of AD was measured using the standardized clinical severity scoring system for AD (SCORAD) at baseline and 12 months. A favorable clinical response to SCIT was defined as a decrease in SCORAD value at 12 months greater than 50% compared to baseline value. Severe AD was defined as a baseline SCORAD value above 50. RESULTS: A favorable clinical response to SCIT was observed in 73.6% of patients. The proportion of patients showing a favorable clinical response to SCIT was significantly higher in patients with severe AD (90.6%) than patients with mild to moderated AD (63.7%) (p<0.001). Patients with severe AD showing a favorable clinical response had a significantly shorter duration of AD (12.3±8.5 years; mean±SD) than patients with severe AD showing no significant clinical response (20.6±10.9 years) (p<0.05) at baseline. CONCLUSION: SCIT could be a clinically useful therapeutic option for patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM. Early initiation of SCIT might provide a favorable clinical outcome in patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM.

Autologous Immunoglobulin Therapy in Patients With Severe Recalcitrant Atopic Dermatitis: Long-Term Changes of Clinical Severity and Laboratory Parameters

This report evaluated long-term changes in clinical severity and laboratory parameters in 3 adult patients with severe recalcitrant atopic dermatitis (AD) who were treated with intramuscular injections of 50 mg of autologous immunoglobulin G (IgG) twice a week for 4 weeks (autologous immunoglobulin therapy, AIGT) and followed up for more than 2 years after the treatment. We observed the following 4 major findings in these 3 patients during the long-term follow-up after AIGT. (1) Two of the 3 patients showed a long-term clinical improvement for more than 36 weeks after AIGT with a maximum decrease in clinical severity score greater than 80% from baseline. (2) These 2 patients also showed long-term decreases in serum total IgE concentrations and peripheral blood eosinophil count for more than 36 weeks after AIGT with a maximum decrease in the two laboratory parameters of allergic inflammatory greater than 70% from baseline. (3) No significant side effect was observed during the 2 years of follow-up period after the AIGT in all 3 patients. (4) Serum levels of IgG anti-idiotype antibodies to the F(ab')2 fragment of autologous IgG administered for the treatment were not significantly changed after AIGT in all 3 patients. These findings suggest that AIGT has long-term favorable effects on both clinical severity and laboratory parameters in selected patients with severe recalcitrant AD. Further studies are required to evaluate the clinical usefulness and therapeutic mechanism of AIGT for AD.