Allergen immunotherapy beneficial for atopic dermatitis patients: Study

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-01-04T22:46:07+05:30 | Updated On 5 Jan 2021 11:32 AM IST

Hungary: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) can be used as an adjuvant treatment for sensitized atopic dermatitis patients, suggests a recent study in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

In some atopic disease, AIT is considered a curative treatment, but in AD there exists contradictory clinical results and the AIT action has not been elucidated. In the literature, there is no evidence for parallel investigations of blood, permeability barrier and cutaneous immune responses after AIT in AD. K. Hajdu, University of Debrecen, Hungary, and colleagues aimed to investigate immune parameters in the blood and skin and to detect clinical and barrier changes after AIT in AD.

For the purpose, the researchers selected 14 mild‐to‐moderate AD patients with concomitant allergic rhinitis to house dust mites. All the patients received topical treatment, while eight patients were randomly selected for adjuvant AIT also. At baseline and after 6 months, clinical, barrier and immunological investigations (serum and skin tests) were performed. In selected patients, the researchers analysed biopsies from atopy patch tests (APTs) by immunohistochemistry for AD‐relevant immune cells and mediators.

Key findings of the study include:

In the adjuvant AIT group, clinical parameters and barrier functions improved significantly.
Blood immune parameters displayed no significant changes.
Post‐AIT APT became negative in all patients in the AIT group, but remained positive in the non‐AIT group.
Cutaneous dendritic cell and T‐cell recruitment decreased significantly after allergen challenge in the AIT group, but no significant changes in skin or serum immunoglobulin E levels or prick test (SPT) reactivity were detected.

"Allergen immunotherapy is a beneficial adjuvant treatment for sensitized AD patients. AIT improves not only clinical symptoms, but also permeability barrier functions. The effect of AIT on sensitization should be detected by APT, not by SPT," wrote the authors.

The study, "Improvement of clinical and immunological parameters after allergen‐specific immunotherapy in atopic dermatitis," is published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jdv.17018

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereologyatopic dermatitisAllergen immunotherapy

Source : Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751