Common and different roles of IL-4 and IL-13 in skin allergy and clinical implications

  • Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019 Aug;19(4):319-327. doi: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000553.
Lennart M Roesner  1 ,  Jana Zeitvogel ,  Annice Heratizadeh
Affiliations
  • 1. Division of Immunodermatology and Allergy Research, Department of Dermatology, Allergy and Venereology, Hannover Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
PMID: 31157635 DOI: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000553
Abstract

Purpose of review: This review summarizes the mode of action of IL-4 and IL-13 in skin allergy, upcoming therapeutics and depicts key outcomes of the latest clinical trials.

Recent findings: Atopic dermatitis is considered to be one of the most common inflammatory skin disease in industrialized countries. Accompanied by strong pruritus, atopic dermatitis has a significant impact on quality of life in severely affected individuals. Aside from unspecific immunosuppressant medications, therapeutics targeting the key cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 and their downstream mediators are under development or have been approved just recently with outstanding potential.

Summary: The recent development of several biologics and small compounds has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of atopic dermatitis, and applying this set of state-of-the-art drugs will provide a unique chance to gain insights into this skin disorder, patient subgroups, and key inflammatory mediators.

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