Dupilumab Restores Skin Barrier Function in Children with Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis, Study Shows


DENVER - A new study led by investigators at National Jewish Health and published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, shows that treatment with dupilumab significantly restores skin barrier function and reduces inflammation in children ages 6 to 11 with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (eczema). Using advanced, noninvasive techniques, researchers found improvements not only in visible eczema lesions but also in clinically unaffected skin, highlighting the systemic nature of the disease.

“Atopic dermatitis is not just a surface rash. It is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by immune dysfunction and a compromised skin barrier,” said senior author Donald Leung, MD, PhD, director of the Food Allergy & Asthma Program at National Jewish Health. “Our study demonstrates that dupilumab helps normalize the skin barrier in children, including areas of skin that appear clinically unaffected. These findings suggest we may be addressing the underlying disease process, not just treating symptoms.”

Researchers evaluated skin barrier function using transepidermal water loss, a measure of how much water escapes through the skin, and optical coherence tomography, a noninvasive imaging technique that measures epidermal thickness. At baseline, children with atopic dermatitis had significantly higher transepidermal water loss and thicker epidermis in both lesional and non-lesional skin compared to healthy controls, which is evidence of widespread barrier dysfunction and inflammation.

“These objective, noninvasive tools allowed us to see that dupilumab not only improves what we can observe clinically but also repairs deeper structural and functional abnormalities in the skin,” Dr. Leung said.

“Repairing the skin barrier early in life may have important implications for preventing progression to other allergic conditions,” Dr. Leung continued. “Childhood represents a critical window of opportunity when the immune system is still highly adaptable.”

Dupilumab was generally well tolerated. No serious or severe adverse events occurred with treatment, and none led to treatment discontinuation.
 

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation delivering excellence in multispecialty care and world class research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit njhealth.org or the media resources page.


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