ISTANBUL – Baseline total serum immunoglobulin E shows promise as a biomarker predictive of long-term treatment outcomes in atopic dermatitis patients.
In a retrospective study involving 175 Finnish patients with atopic dermatitis followed for a mean of 4.2 years, total clearance was achieved in 54% of patients with a baseline total serum IgE below 1,000 IU/mL, 38% of those with a baseline value of 1,000-10,000 IU/mL, and in a mere 8.3% with a baseline total serum IgE in excess of 10,000 IU/mL, Dr. Ville Kiiski reported at the annual congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
Similarly, treatment response, a lower bar as an endpoint in that it was defined as a lasting reduction in atopic dermatitis severity but not necessarily total clearance, occurred in 93% of those with a baseline total serum IgE below 1,000 IU/mL, compared with 64% of patients with a baseline of 1,000-10,000 IU/mL and 13% with a baseline level greater than 10,000 IU/mL, added Dr. Kiiski of Helsinki University.
Of note, this was largely an adult patient population, with a mean age of 32 years, although the range was 3-78 years. And these patients had atopic dermatitis of sufficient severity that it brought them to a specialized outpatient atopic dermatitis clinic at the Helsinki Skin and Allergy Hospital, where their baseline total serum IgE was measured.
Maintenance therapy during more than 4 years of follow-up was topical tacrolimus (Protopic) in 122 patients and topical corticosteroids and tacrolimus in 53.
Treatment had only a modest effect on total serum IgE levels over time. The median value was 1,472 IU/mL at baseline and 1,114 IU/mL more than 4 years later.
This retrospective study was free of commercial sponsorship, and Dr. Kiiski reported having no financial conflicts of interest.