New active ingredient against atopic dermatitis successfully tested on patientsA new active ingredient against atopic dermatitis has been successfully tested on patients. The tablet significantly improved the skin after eight weeks, reports Hannover Medical School. It is a histamine 4 receptor blocker.
Excruciating itching is a hallmark of atopic dermatitis – Photo: ©Gina Sanders – stock.adobe.com
People with atopic dermatitis suffer from dry, scaly and reddened skin that is excruciatingly itchy. If the affected skin areas are clearly visible, social stigmatization is an additional factor. Treatment of severe forms was hardly possible until now.
Researchers at Hanover Medical School (MHH) and the Hanover Veterinary School Foundation (TiHo) have been working on a new treatment approach for several years, which has now been tested on humans for the first time. With success: The new active ingredient, which can be taken as a tablet, significantly improved the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis.
Redness, blisters and scratch marks significantly reduced
After just eight weeks, the proportion of diseased skin with redness, blisters and scratch marks was reduced by half. The clinical trial involved 98 patients, according to a press release.
The active ingredient is a histamine 4 receptor blocker. It prevents the messenger substance histamine from docking to certain cells, thus interrupting the inflammatory process and relieving itching. The receptor on these cells was discovered in 2000. Continuous research since then.
New active ingredient against atopic dermatitis successfully tested on patients
"Laboratory and in vivo results in the mouse model, which we have published continuously since 2005, suggested that the histamine-4 receptor is an interesting target for the treatment of atopic dermatitis", reports Professor Dr. Thomas Werfel from the MHH Clinic for Dermatology, Allergology and Venereology. The physician designed the clinical trial together with one of the discoverers of the histamine-4 receptor and a company.
No side effects were observed that could be attributed to the administration of the drug. The new active ingredient against atopic dermatitis, which has been tested with great success, is now to be tested in a larger international study on around 400 patients in order to find out the optimal dosage. Not all neurodermatitis is the same. Also, not all psoriasis is the same. In a European research project, the aim is now to. read
Severe forms treated so far with immunosuppressants
Atopic dermatitis has various causes, including skin-irritating substances, certain allergens, and microbial, hormonal, and psychological influences. "We ame that the histamine-4-receptor blocker works independently of the cause of the neurodermatitis and are currently investigating which patients can benefit most from the new therapy.", says Professor Werfel.
Basically beneficial for atopic dermatitis is patient education. In addition, externally applied cortisone compounds play a role. Calcineurin inhibitors play a central role. Severe forms of atopic dermatitis have been treated with the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine, but this has many side effects.
Neurodermatitis: Antibody Dupilumab must be injected
The antibody Dupilumab has been available for a year for the targeted inhibition of messenger substances of allergic inflammation. "Dupilumab represents a very significant advance in the treatment of severely affected patients, but does not help all sufficiently well. In addition, the drug has to be injected, which is more difficult to tolerate, especially for children, who suffer from neurodermatitis particularly frequently,", says Werfel.
The disease affects around eleven percent of all girls and boys of preschool age and one to two percent of adults in Germany; in many cases, the disease is chronic and progresses severely. The current study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.