Beat untreatable eczema with arthritis drug

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have successfully treated patients with moderate to severe eczema using a rheumatoid arthritis drug recently shown to reverse two other disfiguring skin conditions, vitiligo and alopecia areata. The study is evidence of a potential new era in eczema treatment, they report.

Eczema (atopic dermatitis) is a chronic condition that causes severe itching and leaves the skin red and thickened. It can adversely affect sleep and quality of life. Standard treatments, such as steroid creams and oral medicines, commonly fail to relieve symptoms in patients with moderate to severe eczema.

Based on current scientific models of eczema biology, assistant professor of dermatology Dr. Brett King hypothesized that a drug approved for rheumatoid arthritis, tofacitinib citrate, would interrupt the immune response that causes eczema.

In the new study, King and his colleagues report that treatment with the drug led to dramatic improvement in six patients with moderate to severe eczema who had previously tried conventional therapies without success.

During treatment all six patients reported significant reduction in itch as well as improved sleep. The redness and thickening of the skin diminished, also.

King and fellow Yale dermatologist Dr. Brittany Craiglow had previously shown that tofacitinib citrate regrows hair in patients with an autoimmune-related form of hair loss called alopecia areata. They also published findings reporting the successful treatment of a patient with vitiligo, which can leave widespread irregular white patches all over the body.

The new study suggests that a change in the standard of care for eczema