Identification of Early and Late Responders to Anti-IL-13 Antibody Tralokinumab in Atopic Dermatitis: A Real-World Japanese Study

<u><b><i></i></b></u> <u><b><i>Background:</i></b></u> Tralokinumab, an anti-IL-13 antibody, is an effective treatment for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). However, predictive factors for responders to tralokinumab remain unclear in real-world practice. <u><b><i>Objective:</i></b></u> This study aimed to identify predictive factors for early and late responders to tralokinumab treatment. Early responders were defined as patients achieving investigator's global assessment (IGA) 0/1 at week 12, whereas late responders were defined as those without IGA 0/1 at week 12 but achieving IGA 0/1 at week 24. <u><b><i>Methods:</i></b></u> A prospective study was conducted with 108 Japanese AD patients treated with tralokinumab between October 2023 and August 2024. Patients' background factors and baseline clinical or laboratory indexes were compared between responders and poor responders. <u><b><i>Results:</i></b></u> Both early and late responders had a higher proportion of systemic therapy-naive patients compared with poor responders. Early responders had higher proportion of females, younger age, shorter disease duration, lower body mass index, and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, whereas late responders had lower immunoglobulin E, thymus and activation-regulated chemokine, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and C-reactive protein compared with poor responders. <u><b><i>Conclusions:</i></b></u> This study provides valuable insights for optimizing treatment strategies in AD, in selecting patients who may respond to tralokinumab at early or late phases.