title: Clinical efficacy of blue light full body irradiation as treatment option for severe atopic dermatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Therapy of atopic dermatitis (AD) relies on immunosuppression and/or UV irradiation. Here, we assessed clinical efficacy and histopathological alterations induced by blue light-treatment of AD within an observational, non-interventional study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  36 patients with severe, chronic AD resisting long term disease control with local corticosteroids were included. Treatment consisted of one cycle of 5 consecutive blue light-irradiations (28.9 J/cm(2)). Patients were instructed to ask for treatment upon disease exacerbation despite interval therapy with topical corticosteroids. The majority of patients noted first improvements after 2-3 cycles. The EASI score was improved by 41% and 54% after 3 and 6 months, respectively (p≤0.005, and p≤0.002). Significant improvement of pruritus, sleep and life quality was noted especially after 6 months. Also, frequency and intensity of disease exacerbations and the usage of topical corticosteroids was reduced. Finally, immunohistochemistry of skin biopsies obtained at baseline and after 5 and 15 days revealed that, unlike UV light, blue light-treatment did not induce Langerhans cell or T cell depletion from skin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Blue light-irradiation may represent a suitable treatment option for AD providing long term control of disease. Future studies with larger patient cohorts within a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial are required to confirm this observation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seemann
authors.forename: Gunda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seemann
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fell
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saloga
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grabbe
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: von Stebut
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003116:Color; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012698:Serologic Tests; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult