Atopic dermatitis shows three different response types to proactive therapy using topical tacrolimus

<b> </b>A single-arm open-label clinical study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of TCI proactive therapy was conducted in 31 AD patients. Patients were treated with TCS to induce remission (remission induction period) followed by daily TCI ointment (TACo; 0.1% tacrolimus) application for 4 weeks (maintenance therapy period), and twice-weekly application for 12 weeks (proactive therapy period). Based on its results, treatment outcomes were correlated with the patients’ clinical and laboratory findings.Of the 31 patients enrolled in the study, 21 successfully completed maintenance therapy (TACo-responsive group). Among them, 13 completed (proactive-complete group) and 8 failed proactive therapy (proactive-dropout group). At the beginning of maintenance therapy, the serum IgE level was significantly higher in the TACo-responsive group than in those who failed maintenance therapy (<i>p</i>=0.049). At the beginning of proactive therapy, the mean SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) score was significantly different between the proactive-completed (11.7 ± 4.6) and proactive-dropout (16.6 ± 4.2) groups (<i>p</i> = 0.025). In proactive-dropout group patients, worsened disease activity correlated well with the elevation of serum <em>lactate dehydrogenase</em> (LDH) and Thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) levels and peripheral eosinophil count.<br>