What is the role of tacrolimus and pimecrolimus in atopic dermatitis?
Abstract
When the standard therapies -- mild topical
corticosteroids and moisturizers -- fail in the
treatment of atopic dermatitis, patients are left with few proven remedies. The recently introduced topical immunosuppressive treatment --pimecrolimus and tacrolimus -- offer an alternative to topical corticosteroids.
Tacrolimus 0.1% (Protopic) appears to be both
safe and effective in treating eczema in adults and children (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A). In multiple studies, it has been as effective as potent
topical corticosteroids and more effective than mild topical corticosteroids (SOR: A).
Pimecrolimus (Elidel) is more effective than
placebo but less effective than potent topical corticosteroids (SOR: A). At this time, no data compare pimecrolimus with mild corticosteroids.
Rights
OpenAccess.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.