Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of compound polymyxin B ointment combined with desonide cream for the treatment of subacute or chronic eczema. Methods A multicenter, randomized, double?blind, parallel?group, controlled clinical study was conducted. Totally, 144 patients with subacute eczema and 144 patients with chronic eczema were enrolled into this study, and both randomly and equally divided into the test group and control group. The test group and control group firstly topically applied compound polymyxin B ointment and its vehicle respectively, then both topically applied desonide cream 3 hours later. The drugs or vehicle were applied twice a day in all the patients. Patients′ symptoms and signs (including degree of itching, inflammation, erosion/exudation and infiltration/thickening, as well as area of target lesions) were evaluated, and the time to onset and duration of itching?alleviating effect were recorded. The clinical efficacy and safety of treatments were analyzed and compared between the test group and control group. Results The total symptom and sign scores significantly decreased to different extents on days 7 and 14 in the test group(subacute eczema patients:6.09 ± 2.78 and 3.68 ± 3.18 vs. 13.44 ± 1.66; chronic eczema patients: 6.56 ± 2.68 and 4.38 ± 3.27 vs. 12.96 ± 1.16)and control group(subacute eczema patients:8.26 ± 3.17 and 5.28 ± 4.05 vs. 13.60 ± 1.75;chronic eczema patients: 8.84 ± 2.90 and 6.25 ± 3.78 and vs. 12.64 ± 1.18)compared with those at baseline. Moreover, the total symptom and sign score of patients with subacute or chronic eczema was significantly lower in the test group than in the control group on days 7 and 14(all P<0.05). A significant increment was observed in the degree of decrease in scores for itch, infiltration/thickening in patients with subacute eczema in the test group compared with that in the control group(all P<0.01), as well as in scores for itch, infiltration/thickening and area of target lesions in patients with chronic eczema in the test group compared with those in the control group (all P < 0.05). In addition, patients with subacute eczema in the test group showed significantly shorter onset and longer duration of itching?alleviating effect than those in the control group(both P<0.05). The time to onset of itching?alleviating effect was also significantly shorter in patients with chronic eczema in the test group than in those in the control group(P<0.000 1), but there was no significant difference in the duration of it between the two groups of patients with chronic eczema. Clinicians and patients were both more satisfied with therapeutic effects in the test group than in the control group(all P<0.05). Conclusions Topical compound polymyxin B ointment can increase the efficacy of topical desonide cream for the treatment of subacute or chronic eczema, especially subacute eczema. Compound polymyxin B ointment also shows a favorable therapeutic effect on itching and infiltration/thickening in patients with eczema.

Objective:To evaluate and compare efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) versus recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-α receptor Ⅱ:IgG Fc fusion protein (rhTNFR:Fc) in the treatment of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) .Methods:Clinical data were collected from patients with TEN treated with IVIG or rhTNFR:Fc in Wuhan No.1 Hospital from 2013 to 2019. There were 11 patients in the IVIG group, including 3 males and 8 females, aged 25-72 years, and the median TEN-specific severity-of-illness score (SCORTEN) was 3 points; there were 10 patients in the rhTNFR:Fc group, including 5 males and 5 females, aged 32-84 years, and the median SCORTEN was 2 points. These patients all showed no response to the 5-day treatment with prednisolone acetate at a dose of 0.6-1.0 mg·kg -1·d -1, and then received IVIG at a dose of 400 mg·kg -1·d -1 for 5 consecutive days, or subcutaneous injection of rhTNFR:Fc at a dose of 25 mg every other day for 4-6 sessions. Changes in skin lesions and adverse events were recorded in the 2 groups. Statistical analysis was carried out by using Mann-Whitney U test. Results:Compared with the rhTNFR:Fc group, the IVIG group showed a significant decrease in the time to onset of reduction of skin lesion exudate (1.73 ± 1.19 days vs. 3.00 ± 1.56 days, P < 0.05) , time to onset of pain relief in the lesion area (1.64 ± 1.28 days vs. 3.70 ± 1.63 days, P < 0.05) , time to lightening of color of the lesion base (2.45 ± 1.12 days vs. 3.90 ± 1.59 days, P < 0.05) , time to onset of new epidermis growth (3.09 ± 1.13 days vs. 5.20 ± 1.22 days, P < 0.05) , and in the time to onset of lesion drying at the intertriginous sites (4.82 ± 2.22 days vs. 7.90 ± 3.14 days, P < 0.05) . However, there was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay between the IVIG group (17.70 ± 8.33 days) and rhTNFR:Fc group (16.70 ± 4.71 days, P > 0.05) . No adverse reactions were observed during the treatment, and no recurrence or complications were found in the 21 patients during the follow-up of 6 months. Conclusion:IVIG and rhTNFR:Fc are both effective in the treatment of TEN, but IVIG is superior to rhTNFR:Fc in terms of the time to onset of pain relief, skin lesion exudate reduction and epidermal growth.