COVID-19 Symptoms Are Attenuated in Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis Patients Treated with Dupilumab

Benjamin Ungar; Jacob W Glickman; Alexandra K Golant; Celina Dubin; Olga Marushchak; Alyssa Gontzes; Daniela Mikhaylov; Giselle K Singer; Danielle Baum; Nancy Wei; Antonio Sanin; Diana Gruenstein; Mark G Lebwohl; Ana B Pavel; Emma Guttman-Yassky

doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2021.10.050

COVID-19 Symptoms Are Attenuated in Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis Patients Treated with Dupilumab

J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022 Jan;10(1):134-142. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2021.10.050. Epub 2021 Nov 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology and Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
² Department of Dermatology and Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY.
³ Department of Dermatology and Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Mississippi, University, Miss.
⁴ Department of Dermatology and Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Electronic address: emma.guttman@mountsinai.org.

Abstract

Background: In the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, we need to understand the impact of immunomodulatory medications on COVID-19 symptom severity in patients with inflammatory diseases, including the type 2/Th2 polarized skin disease, atopic dermatitis (AD).

Objective: Because it is believed that type 1/Th1 immunity controls viral infections and that there is a Th1/Th2 counter-regulation, we hypothesized that Th2 targeting with the IL-4Rα-antagonist, dupilumab, in patients with moderate-to-severe AD would rebalance the Th1/Th2 axis, potentially leading to attenuated COVID-19 symptoms.

Methods: A total of 1237 patients with moderate-to-severe AD in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Department of Dermatology were enrolled in a registry. Patients were screened for COVID-19-related symptoms and assigned a severity score (asymptomatic [0]-fatal [5]). Scores were compared among 3 treatment groups: dupilumab (n = 632), other systemic treatments (n = 107), and limited/no treatment (n = 498). Demographic and comorbid covariates were adjusted by multivariate generalized logistic regression models.

Results: The dupilumab-treated group showed reduced incidence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms versus other treatment groups. Dupilumab-treated patients were less likely to experience moderate-to-severe symptoms versus patients on other systemics (P = .01) and on limited/no treatment (P = .04), and less likely to experience any symptoms versus patients on other systemics (P = .01). This effect was seen in our entire cohort and in the subgroup of patients with verified COVID-19 or high-risk exposure.

Conclusions: Patients on dupilumab experienced less severe COVID-19 manifestations and lesser symptoms compared with patients on other systemics and on limited/no treatment. These results suggest that Th2 modulation with dupilumab may have a protective effect on anti-viral immune response in patients with AD.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Biologics; COVID-19; Dupilumab; SARS-CoV-2; Th2.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use*
COVID-19 Drug Treatment*
COVID-19* / complications
Dermatitis, Atopic* / complications
Dermatitis, Atopic* / drug therapy
Humans
Pandemics
Severity of Illness Index
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
dupilumab