Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.
On September 9, 2024, we reported on a study published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy that examined the safety and effectiveness of tralokinumab in the management of atopic dermatitis (AD) in special populations.
The study
Investigators analyzed data from 27 participants (mean age, 71 years; 62.9% men) with moderate-to-severe AD who received tralokinumab for at least 24 weeks, had a comorbidity, and were 65 years and older. Tralokinumab was administered at baseline via subcutaneous injection at labelled dosage (ie, 600 mg or four 150 mg injections) followed by 300 mg (two 150 mg injections) administered every other week in all patients.
Researchers assessed the efficacy of tralokinumab using the Eczema Area Severity Index (EASI) and Pruritus–Numerical Rating Scale (P-NRS) and analyzed the impact of AD on quality of life using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) at baseline and after 4, 16, and 24 weeks.
At baseline, mean EASI and P-NRS scores were 25.96 and 9.04, respectively, investigators noted. Moreover, they reported high impact of AD on quality of life with a mean DLQI score of 26.12 at baseline.
The findings
At week 4, results showed a statistically significant reduction of EASI (14.92; P < .001) and P-NRS scores (6.28; P < .001) compared to baseline, which continued up to 24 weeks (EASI, 3.08; P < .001; P-NRS, 2.92; P < .001). Also, DLQI scores significantly decreased at each timepoint as compared to baseline, resulting in scores of 14.52 at week 4, 5.52 at week 16, and 2.51 at week 24. No adverse effects (AEs) were reported during the study period.
Authors' comment
"Despite promising, further observational data with more patients or longer follow-up periods are needed to confirm our results."
