Thymopentin therapy reduces the clinical severity of atopic dermatitis.
One hundred patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis were entered into a two-center, double-blind trial. Patients were randomized to receive either thymopentin (Timunox, n = 48) or placebo (n = 52), administered as daily subcutaneous injections for 6 weeks. Clinical extent of disease and severity parameters were measured at baseline and at regular time intervals during the study. Both the placebo- and thymopentin-treated groups demonstrated a progressive and statistically significant (p less than 0.001) decline in the overall severity of their disease, but reduction in the clinical severity score was higher in the thymopentin-treated group and statistically significant (p = 0.04) in comparison with the placebo-treated group after 6 weeks of treatment. Of the individual symptoms comprising the total severity score, pruritus (p = 0.02) and erythema (p = 0.04) were reduced significantly when thymopentin therapy was compared to placebo therapy. In addition, both the extent of body involvement and severity index (a combined severity/extent index) were significantly reduced after 6 weeks in the thymopentin-treated group in comparison to the placebo-treated group (p = 0.04). There were no serious adverse experiences in either treatment group. We conclude that treatment with thymopentin is safe and offers significant therapeutic promise for atopic dermatitis.
Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
D Y
DY
Leung
R L
RL
Hirsch
L
L
Schneider
C
C
Moody
R
R
Takaoka
S H
SH
Li
L A
LA
Meyerson
S G
SG
Mariam
G
G
Goldstein
J M
JM
Hanifin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010919:Placebos; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016305:Thymopentin; D013946:Thymopoietins / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013951:Thymus Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010919:Placebos; D013946:Thymopoietins; D013951:Thymus Hormones; D016305:Thymopentin