Abstract
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease with recurring episodes of itching and a chronic relapsing course. Keishibukuryogan (KBG) is a traditional herbal medicine, composed of five kinds of medical plants and has been administered to patients with blood stagnation in Japan. This study investigated the effect of KBG on the disease activity in AD (n = 45) patients. AD patients were administered KBG for 4 to 6 weeks in addition to their prescribed medications. The results showed that the SCORAD index and VAS score were significantly decreased after the administration of KBG (P < 0.01). KBG also decreased the serum LDH level significantly (P < 0.01). The global assessment of the clinical response in SCORAD index showed that 88.5% of the patients with moderate improvement to excellent response (n = 26) had a high lichenification score (lichenification score ≥2 in SCORAD). On the other hand, only 42.1% of the patients with no improvement to mild improvement (n = 19) had a high lichenification score. Furthermore, long-term administration of KBG for 9–67 weeks showed a marked improvement in patients with a high lichenification score. Therefore, KBG was found to be effective against AD, particularly in cases presenting with lichenified lesions.
Highlights
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by inflammatory infiltration, extensive pruritus, and a clinical course of symptomatic flares and remissions
Traditional herbal medicine has a long history, and it contributes to the prevention and treatment of various diseases
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of KBG on disease activity in AD patients in addition to conventional modalities
Summary
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by inflammatory infiltration, extensive pruritus, and a clinical course of symptomatic flares and remissions. Effective long-term treatment is sometimes difficult due to the chronic, relapsing nature of this disease, creating a need to find better therapeutic options with minimal side effects that are well tolerated over the variable course of this disease. Traditional herbal medicine has a long history, and it contributes to the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Only a few reports regarding the efficacy of traditional herbal medicines as a treatment option for AD have been reported [2,3,4,5]. KBG is one of the most frequently used traditional medicines in Japan and has been used clinically to treat various diseases, including skin diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of KBG on disease activity in AD patients in addition to conventional modalities
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