Therapeutic efficacy and safety of topical ruxolitinib in mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis: A systematic review

Objective

The objective of this article was to conduct a systematic review of the treatment of light-to-moderate atopic dermatitis by administering topical ruxolitinib.

Methods

A comprehensive search was conducted in the online databases Medline, PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, Wanfang, Cochrane Library, Life Science Network, and Embase. Publications from 2019 to October 2024 were selected. The inclusion criteria focused on clinical trials that included both adult and pediatric populations with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, containing control groups. The studies evaluated the efficacy of topical ruxolitinib using standardized outcome measures, such as the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA), and pruritus Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Studies without control groups, reviews, conference abstracts, case series, and studies on other conditions were excluded. The search used the following keywords: “ruxolitinib” AND “atopic dermatitis”. Duplicate articles on the databases were discarded.

Results

The reviewed literature demonstrated that topical ruxolitinib significantly reduces eczema and pruritus in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, showing improvements in EASI, IGA, and NRS scores compared to placebo or conventional treatments. Both adult and pediatric patients tolerated the treatment well, with mild side effects such as nasopharyngitis and upper respiratory tract infections being the most commonly reported adverse events.

Conclusions

Topic use of ruxolitinib is very promising for treating atopic dermatitis, demonstrating more effectiveness than conventional therapy.