Key clinical point: Specific targeting of interleukin-13 alone with tralokinumab improved microbial diversity and reduced Staphylococcus aureus abundance in the lesional skin in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD).
Major finding: The 16-week tralokinumab treatment reduced S. aureus abundance by 20.7-fold (P < .0001), whereas placebo led to a non-statistically significant reduction. Tralokinumab also led to a significant increase in microbial diversity as early as week 8 (P < .001) and also at week 16 (P < .05).
Study details: The data come from the phase 3 ECZTRA 1 trial including 802 patients with moderate-to-severe AD who were randomly assigned to receive 300 mg subcutaneous tralokinumab or placebo.
Disclosures: This study and the ECZTRA 1 trial were funded by LEO Pharma A/S. Some authors declared serving as speakers, consultants, investigators, scientific advisors, or clinical study investigators or receiving institutional research grants from various sources, including LEO Pharma.
Source: Beck LA et al. Tralokinumab treatment improves the skin microbiota by increasing the microbial diversity in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: Analysis of microbial diversity in ECZTRA 1, a randomized controlled trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022 (Dec 2). Doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2022.11.047