ImmunoTargets and Therapy (Sep 2020)
Targeting IL-4 for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis
Abstract
Andrea Chiricozzi,1,2 Martina Maurelli,3 Ketty Peris,1,2 Giampiero Girolomoni3 1Dermatologia, Dipartimento Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy; 2Dermatologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; 3Department of Medicine, Section of Dermatology, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyCorrespondence: Andrea ChiricozziDermatologia, Dipartimento Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, ItalyTel +39-339 5668320Fax +39-0761-571321Email [email protected]: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease characterized by a predominant type 2 immune response. Type 2 immunity is driven by multiple cytokines, including interleukin (IL)‑4 and IL-13 that are considered central to AD pathogenesis and key therapeutic targets. The dual inhibition of these two cytokines or the selective inhibition of IL-13 proved elevated efficacy in treating AD, whereas the selective inhibition of IL-4 has been poorly investigated as IL-4 inhibiting agents did not show any advance in clinical development programs. This review describes the pathogenic role of IL-4 in AD and briefly resumes the main features of compounds selectively blocking IL-4.Keywords: atopic dermatitis, IL-4, IL-4 inhibitor, dupilumab, pascolizumab, pitrakinra
