Topical tacrolimus in atopic dermatitis: Effects of ... - Helda - Helsinki.fi

Table 7. Subject characteristics; occurrence of atopy, physician-diagnosed asthma and
allergic rhinitis in subjects of Studies III and V.
Study III Study III Study V
AD patients Control subjects AD patients
N 86 49 65
Females; N (%) 57 (66) 13 (27) 41 (63)
Smokers; N (%) 17 (20) 5 (10) 11 (17)
SPT-positive; N (%) 72 (84) 18 (37)* 53 (82)
Life-time prevalence of physiciandiagnosed
asthma; N (%)
31 (36) 1 (2)* 27 (42)
Current inhaled corticosteroids ** 9 (29) 1 10 (37)
Current bronchodilators alone 18 (51) 0 15 (56)
Life-time prevalence of physiciandiagnosed
allergic rhinitis; N (%)
39 (45) 3 (6)* 29 (45)
Current intranasal steroids ** 6 (15) 1 (33) 3 (10)
Current antihistamines 27 (69) 2 (67) 20 (69)
* p2 cm in
VAS scale at baseline (4.09 ± 1.6 vs. 2.43 ± 2.5 p=0.003 and 5.19 ± 2.39 vs. 3.36 ±
2.91, p=0.002, respectively). At 48 months, a further but non-significant decrease
compared with the 12-month results occurred to asthma and rhinitis symptoms (1.28 ±
2.23 and 1.93 ± 2.90). These changes were significant compared with baseline, p=0.002
and p=0.005.
Bronchial hyper-responsiveness
In Study III, increased BHR was observed significantly more often in AD patients than
in control subjects, and degree of BHR, expressed as mild, moderate, or severe, or as
the slope of the dose response curve, was more severe in the patients with AD than in
controls (p=0.006) (Table 8). Of the 30 AD patients with previous or current physiciandiagnosed
asthma, 21 (70%) showed increased BHR. AD patients without asthma
showed less BHR (40%) than did AD patients with asthma (p=0.008) but still more
50