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CLINICAL REPORT
Clinical Efficacy of Oligofructans from Ophiopogon japonicus in
Reducing Atopic Dermatitis Flare-ups in Caucasian Patients
Carine MAINZER 1 , Maud LE GUILLOU 2 , Raoul VYUMVUHORE 2 , Bernard CHADOUTAUD 3 , Sylvie BORDES 2 and Brigitte CLOSS 2
SILAB Inc., East Brunswick, NJ, USA, 2 SILAB, R&D Department, Brive, and 3 Clinreal Online, Toulouse, France
1
Atopic dermatitis is a chronic relapsing inflammato-
ry skin disease that affects 15–20% of children and
2–10% of adults worldwide. Topical treatments in-
clude corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, de-
spite frequently observed adverse events, such as skin
atrophy, itching and burning sensations. Alternative
treatments that can prolong disease relief between
flare-ups are therefore needed. A randomized, single-
blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre clinical trial was
conducted in a cohort of 90 Caucasian children and
144 adults with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis.
Tested products were applied twice daily for 60 days. A
natural active ingredient from Ophiopogon japonicus,
which improves atopic dermatitis symptoms in vivo,
was successful in reducing SCORing of Atopic Derma-
titis (SCORAD), including erythema, pruritus and body
surface area, in both cohorts. The active ingredient
also improved patient’s quality of life and significantly
reduced the number of patients relapsing compared
with placebo. In conclusion, this treatment could be
effective to help control mild-to-moderate atopic der-
matitis between flare-ups.
Key words: atopic dermatitis; SCORAD; quality of life; relief;
Ophiopogon japonicus; clinical trial; oligofructans.
Accepted May 22, 2019; E-published May 23, 2019
Acta Derm Venereol 2019; 99: 858–864.
Corr: Carine Mainzer, SILAB Inc., One Tower Center Boulevard, Suite
2203, East Brunswick, NJ 08816, USA. Email: [email protected]
A
topic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin inflam-
matory disease that affects 15–20% of children and
2–10% of adults in industrialized countries worldwide.
AD can occur at different stages of life, but is mostly
prevalent in children before the age of 6 years (1–3).
AD is characterized by a breach in the skin barrier,
which is weaker in individuals with AD due to lack of
essential structural components (stratum corneum lipids
and structural proteins), along with a heterogeneous im-
mune response that can vary from type-1 to type-2/17/22
depending on the subtype of the disease (4, 5). Genetic
predispositions (loss-of-function variants in the FLG
gene), endogenous factors (e.g. psychological stress) and
exogenous factors (e.g. pollution, allergens and irritants,
hygiene practices) can trigger AD (6–9).
Clinically, AD is identified by the presence of erythe-
ma, oedema/papulation, oozing and crusting, excoriation,
lichenification, and skin dryness, along with pruritus and
doi: 10.2340/00015555-3224
Acta Derm Venereol 2019; 99: 858–864
SIGNIFICANCE
Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin disease
that affects both children and adults worldwide. Topical
corticosteroids are regularly used to treat these patients,
despite frequently observed adverse events. Alternative
treatments that can prolong disease relief between flare-
ups are therefore needed. This study found that oligofruc-
tans derived from Ophiopogon japonicus improved atopic
symptoms and patient’s quality of life, and restored skin
barrier components known to be reduced in this disease.
This active ingredient could be used together with a moistu-
rizing treatment to prolong patients’ remission phase.
sleep loss (10). These objective and subjective parame-
ters define the SCORing of Atopic Dermatitis (SCO-
RAD), which helps quantify the intensity and severity
of this chronically relapsing disease. Moreover, AD can
affect large body surface areas, especially in children,
and thus greatly affects the quality of life (QoL) of both
the patient and their family (11, 12).
AD is often treated using topical corticosteroids (TCS)
and topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCI), which help to
reduce inflammation. However, these widely prescribed
and effective treatments are often linked with adverse
events, such as skin atrophy, striae and telangiectasia,
systemic absorption (for TCS) or stinging and burning
sensations (for TCI) (10, 13) and do not address repair
of the skin barrier. Moisturizers are used to hydrate the
skin with some proven efficacy in terms of barrier repair
(14), but are not helpful enough to promote long-term
relief. Herbal medicine, including plants derived from
the Chinese tradition, is also widely used to treat AD,
particularly among patients seeking natural alternative
treatments (15). Herbal medicine, which contains blends
of different herbs, have been shown to be effective in
the treatment of oxidation, inflammation, allergy and
microbes present in AD (15, 16), but must be used with
care to avoid any adverse events (17).
Ophiopogon japonicus, a plant used in traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) has been shown to correct
the Th1/Th2 imbalance in mice models mimicking AD
features (18), but has not been studied in humans.
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of
O. japonicus, which was processed to extract specific
active molecules, identified as oligofructans (OF) (AD-
RESYL ® , SILAB, Brive, France), on decreasing the
frequency and intensity of AD flare-ups in Caucasian
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www.medicaljournals.se/acta
Journal Compilation © 2019 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.