Study Design
This was an open-label, multicenter study in children and adults with mild to moderate AD. The study was performed at six centers in Germany between December 2014 and August 2015. The primary objective was to assess the local tolerability of an MDREC (Dexyane MeD®, Ducray Laboratories, Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique, Boulogne, France). Secondary objectives included assessments of the local tolerability of the MDREC 30 min after the first application and 1 week after twice-daily application; its efficacy in improving AD; and the subject (or parent or guardian) overall satisfaction with the MDREC. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical University Department of University Clinic Frankfurt am Main, Germany, performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and national regulations, and was in compliance with Good Clinical Practice (EN ISO 14155:2011). All participating adult subjects, or the participating subject’s parents or guardians, provided their written informed consent.
Subjects
Subjects included in this study had to be 3–23 months (infant group), 2–6 years (young children group), or 18–65 years (adult group) of age; have skin phototype I, II, III, or IV according to the Fitzpatrick classification; have AD with a scoring atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) index of at least 15 and at most 30 [14], a SCORAD xerosis score of at least 2 (moderate) [14], and an Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) severity score of 2 or 3 (mild or moderate; scale described below); and have AD lesions or areas of dry skin that covered at most 30% of the body surface area. The investigator diagnosed AD based on morphology, distribution of subject skin lesions, historical features, and associated clinical signs, in accordance with established guidelines [15].
Subjects were excluded if they had severe oozing or crusts characteristic of severe AD; any condition other than AD that could interfere with the outcome of the study (e.g., acute bacterial or viral skin infection); ongoing allergen reintroduction; or history of hypersensitivity or intolerance to any component of the test product. Subjects could not be taking phototherapy within 4 weeks before or during the study; topical immunomodulators, topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, topical corticosteroids, topical antihistamines, topical antibiotics, or topical antiseptics applied to the test areas within 5 days before or during the study; skincare products (including moisturizers) applied on the body or face within 4 h before inclusion (except on the diaper area for infants and children). Subjects and mothers of breastfed child subjects could not be taking systemic non-biological immunosuppressives within 4 weeks before or during the study; systemic biological immunosuppressives within 12 weeks before or during the study; systemic corticosteroids or systemic antihistamines within 2 weeks before or during the study; or antibiotics within 1 week before or during the study. Women were excluded if pregnant, breastfeeding, or of childbearing potential and not using an effective method of contraception for at least 2 months before the study.
Materials
The MDREC (Dexyane MeD) contained white beeswax, glycyrrhetinic(β) acid, hydroxydecenoic acid, cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate SG, glyceryl stearate/PEG-100 stearate, Shea butter, capric caprylic triglyceride 30/70, polysorbate 60, sclerotium gum, polyacrylate-13, glycerin, propylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, citric acid monohydrate, guanidine carbonate, capryl glycol, and water.
Study Conduct
The MDREC was first topically applied to the subject’s AD lesions or areas of dry skin by the investigator during the inclusion visit (day 1). Subjects were then instructed to apply the MDREC at home on the same test areas twice daily (morning and evening) every day for 3 weeks, even if clinical signs or symptoms of AD disappeared. If new lesions appeared during the study, subjects were allowed to apply the MDREC but had to inform the investigator at the next visit and could not treat more than 30% of the body surface area. The MDREC could not be applied to the diaper area. Subjects were withdrawn from the study if their lesions worsened to an extent that treatment was required. Subjects were given study diaries to keep a daily record of MDREC application and to report changes in application frequency, AEs, disease intensity, how lesions responded, and whether they were taking other treatments. Compliance with the regimen was assessed by calculating the ratio of actual number of applications (as reported in the diary) to the theoretical number of twice daily applications considering how many days each patient participated in the study.
Tolerability and Safety Assessments
The primary outcome measure was the local tolerability of the MDREC on AD lesions between 1 week (day 8 ± 2) and the end of the study (day 22 ± 2) as measured by the investigators. Local tolerability was measured on a 5-point scale, where 1 = excellent (no functional or physical sign from examination), 2 = very good (transitory functional signs and no physical signs from examination), 3 = good (transitory or persistent functional signs with transitory physical signs), 4 = moderate (persisting functional or physical signs that necessitate modified MDREC administration), and 5 = bad (functional or physical signs that necessitate discontinuation). Investigators also assessed the local tolerability 30 min after the first application on day 1 and after 1 week (day 8 ± 2) using the same 5-point scale. AEs were recorded by the investigator at each visit using the subject study diaries or following clinical evaluation.
Efficacy Assessments
Investigators assessed treatment efficacy at day 1, 8, and 22 using the SCORAD index as previously described [14], and an IGA score on a 6-point scale, where 0 = clear (no inflammatory signs of AD), 1 = almost clear (just perceptible erythema and just perceptible papulation/infiltration), 2 = mild disease (mild erythema and mild papulation/infiltration), 3 = moderate disease (moderate erythema and moderate papulation/infiltration), 4 = severe disease (severe erythema and severe papulation/infiltration), and 5 = very severe disease (severe erythema and severe papulation/infiltration with oozing/crusting). In adults, investigators also measured transepidermal water loss [TEWL; using the Aquaflux system (Biox Systems, London, UK)] and skin hydration [using the Corneometer® CM 825 system (Courage + Khazaka Electronic GmbH, Cologne, Germany)] of one selected target lesion. Subjects or the subject’s parents or guardians assessed treatment efficacy using the patient-oriented SCORAD (PO-SCORAD) as previously described [16] at days 1, 8, 15, and 22; and a 5-point patient global assessment (PGA) scale in which AD intensity on days 8, 15, and 22 was compared with baseline (0 = worse, 1 = no change, 2 = slight improvement, 3 = marked improvement, 4 = total resolution). Subjects or the subject’s parents or guardians also completed a questionnaire at the end of the study in which they rated whether they liked or disliked the product, and assigned a global mark on a scale from 0 (disliked a lot) to 10 (liked a lot). The questionnaire also asked subjects to give their opinion of the MDREC’s cosmetic characteristics and acceptability.
Study Size Estimation
Because this was an open-label tolerability study, no formal sample size calculation was performed. However, statisticians estimated that a sample size of 60 subjects (20 subjects aged 3–23 months, 20 subjects aged 2–6 years, and 20 subjects aged 18–65 years) was required to fairly assess tolerability related to the MDREC.
Statistical Analysis
Analyses were performed for all subjects receiving at least one application of the MDREC. Differences in efficacy compared with baseline were determined by Wilcoxon signed-rank test or Student t test for paired data. Missing data were not replaced unless a subject withdrew from the study because of poor tolerability, in which case the missing data were replaced with the worst case (bad tolerability) for the primary assessment measure. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS® version 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). All statistical tests were two-tailed with a type I error of 0.05.