Rituxan may treat severe eczema: pilot study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a small study of patients with severe eczema, treatment with Rituxan (also known as rituximab and MabThera) led to "an impressive improvement," Swiss researchers found. "Rituximab might be a new therapeutic approach for patients with severe (allergic) eczema requiring systemic therapy who do not respond to or have contraindications for conventional immunomodulatory therapy," Dr. Dagmar Simon from the University of Bern told Reuters Health. Rituxan is a monoclonal antibody that targets B cells of the immune system and has been widely used to treat lymphoma. However, mounting evidence suggests that B cells play a role in eczema, Simon and colleagues note in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This led them to investigate the effect of rituximab, administered in two intravenous doses two weeks apart, in four women and two men with severe eczema that was inadequately controlled by other treatments. "All six patients showed a rapid improvement of skin symptoms," Simon said. The eczema area and severity score fell from 29.4 before treatment to 8.4 after eight weeks. The clinical improvement was sustained for at least 24 weeks. As expected, rituximab suppressed B cells in the blood to below detectible levels for at least 4 months. It also reduced B cells in eczema lesions, but only by about 50 percent. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab in a larger group of eczema patients, Simon added.