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

physician-diagnosed asthma (2.09 vs. 3.10, n=11, p=0.03). In patients with sputum
eosinophilia at baseline and the best treatment results in AD, sputum eosinophils
decreased significantly (n=12, p=0.04). No change in the count of blood eosinophils as
such was evident (Table 8), but in the 18 patients with baseline blood eosinophilia
(>0.5*10 9 /L), the number of blood eosinophils decreased (0.95 vs. 0.66, p=0.003).
Skin prick tests and serum IgE
In Study III, 72 (84%) AD patients and 16 (35%) control subjects showed at least one
positive reaction in the SPT, ie. they were classified as having IgE-associated or allergic
AD. The SPT- positive AD patients had significantly lower FEV1% than did SPTnegative
patients (94.1 vs. 103.6, p=0.02). Physician-diagnosed asthma (31 vs.1,
p=0.01), allergic rhinitis (37 vs. 3, p=0.05), and BHR (40 vs. 3, p=0.02), but not current
airway symptoms or sputum eosinophilia, were significantly more common in SPTpositive
AD patients. This was also true for AD patients with increased s-IgE (n=59,
69%) with the exception that increased s-IgE correlated with current nasal symptoms
and sputum eosinophilia.
In Study V, no significant change emerged in serum IgE in the study population
as such (Table 8). An almost significant decrease in serum IgE occurred in patients with
elevated serum IgE at baseline and the best treatment results in AD (3690 ± 4390 vs.
2233 ± 2120, n= 25, p=0.06, n.s.), whereas in patients with a less favorable AD
response, serum IgE increased (3497 ± 5298 vs. 4226 ± 5004, n=22, p=0.10, n.s).
Serum IgE levels at 48 months were similar to the results at 12 months (4113 ± 14905,
n.s. compared with baseline).
A total of 53 (82%) patients were SPT-positive at baseline. At 12 months, SPT
reactivity had increased significantly, expressed as number (3.9 vs. 4.1, p=0.002) and
sum (21.2 vs. 25.1 p