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Using a Contact Dermatitis Model With Biologic Medications to Study Skin Inflammation

Biologics and Blistering - Using a Contact Dermatitis Model With Biologic Medications to Study Skin Inflammation Through Suction Blistering

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05535738
Enrollment
45
Registered
2022-09-10
Start date
2022-11-15
Completion date
2027-12-31
Last updated
2025-11-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Skin Inflammation, Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Keywords

skin inflammation, allergic contact dermatitis

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to answer: how do inflammation and anti-inflammatory skin therapies work in the skin? Inflammation is a protective response from the body's immune system to injury, disease, or irritation. It is a process by which your body's white blood cells and the things they make protect you from infection from outside invaders such as bacteria and viruses.

Detailed description

The purpose of this study is to study mechanisms of human skin inflammation by using an established model of transient contact dermatitis with pre-treatment by biologic drugs that block specific inflammatory signals or by topical steroids that block broad inflammatory signals. Contact dermatitis will be induced in a safe and controlled manner through the use of topical application of squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE), along with other common allergens, after which skin will be sampled for analysis using nonscarring skin biopsy techniques including suction blister biopsies and/or application of absorptive microneedle patches. This IRB protocol will use select FDA-approved, commercially available biologic drugs and topical steroids that have good safety profiles and block inflammatory signals that we observed in our previously acquired data of contact dermatitis. This study will provide insight into human immunology that will deepen our understanding of dermatologic disease, as well as increase our understanding of topical steroids and biologic treatments which sometimes cause paradoxical inflammation despite being designed to suppress inflammation. We hope this will improve the basic understanding of human skin inflammation in order to ultimately impact treatment strategies for several skin diseases.

Interventions

Sensitization dose: 2% Elicitation doses: {0.0001%, 0.00025%, 0.00075%, 0.001%, 0.0025%, 0.005%, 0.0075%, 0.01%, 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.06%, 0.07%, 0.08%, 0.09%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6% 0.7%, 0.8%, 0.9%, 1.0%, 1.2%, 1.4%, 1.6%, 1.8%, 2.0%}

OTHERKnown patch test allergens

Positive patch test allergens during the course of clinical patch testing will be re-applied on the back followed by skin sampling

DRUGDupilumab

300mg

DRUGAdalimumab

40mg

DRUGUstekinumab

45mg

DRUGGuselkumab

100mg

DRUGCanakinumab

150mg

DRUGSarilumab

200mg

DRUGTriamcinolone Acetonide

0.1% ointment

0.1% ointment

DRUGFluticasone Propionate

0.005% ointment

Painless and non-scarring skin sampling with a 7mm x 7mm patch of hydrogel-coated poly-l-lactide microneedles (\<2mm length) will be used to collect interstitial fluid

DEVICESuction blistering

Suction blistering is a technique to induce and collect blister fluid using a negative pressure instrument (Electronic Diversities Finksburg, MD). It does not require local anesthetic, stitches or pain medication following the procedure. The blisters will be no greater than 1cm in diameter and no deeper than the epidermis (\<1mm deep). This process of inducing blisters is typically less than 1 hour. After the formation of blisters, the blister fluid will be extracted using a syringe. The blister roofs will be left attached to the skin and covered with petrolatum and a bandage.

A skin biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue, under local anesthetic.

Sponsors

Wei-Che Ko
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

There are two phases in this study. The first phase involves sensitization to a contact allergen and skin sampling to establish baseline characteristics. In the second phase, the participant will be pre-treated with a one time dose of an immunomodulating medication, re-treated with a contact allergen, followed by skin sampling.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy adult subjects over the age of 18 years with no skin diseases * Patients with dermatologic conditions such as atopic dermatitis, history of localized non-melanoma, keratinocytic skin cancer * Patients with previous clinical patch testing * UMass Medical School students and employees are eligible to participate. * Non-English-speaking individuals are also eligible with the assistance of an interpreter and an approved short form consent in the appropriate language.

Exclusion criteria

* Adults unable to give consent * History of the following specific dermatologic conditions (which would be confounders due to their particular immunologic etiologies, specifically the TNFa and IL-17 pathways which oppose the Th2 pathway): pityriasis rubra pilaris and psoriasis * Patients actively receiving whole body phototherapy * Patients actively receiving systemic broad-spectrum immunosuppression (prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, methotrexate) * Any history of poor wound healing * History of uncontrolled diabetes * History of easily torn skin * Any known cardiac arrhythmia or history of heart failure * History of demyelinating disease * History of liver disease or alcohol abuse * History of melanoma * Pregnant women * Individuals who are high risk for tuberculosis including prisoners, immigrants from TB- endemic areas, or US-based travelers who have visited TB-endemic areas * Individuals with a self-reported personal history of infection with latent or active tuberculosis, HIV, Hepatitis B, or Hepatitis C will not be included, because the type of immunotherapies that will be used in this study may interfere with these conditions. * For similar reasons, we will not be including individuals with signs of current or active infection, self-reported personal history of recurrent infections, or conditions that compromise the immune system, such as patients with malignancy (except non- melanoma, keratinocytic skin cancers).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
To collect and evaluate single-cell multiomics data (RNAseq, CITEseq, TCRseq)Up to 5 yearsBaseline and after pre-treatment with immunomodulating medication

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Correlation of protein biomarkers collected by microneedlesUp to 5 yearsCorrelation to RNA and/or protein expression collected by single-cell multiomics

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactWei-Che Ko, MD
Wei-Che.Ko@umassmed.edu508-856-1706
Backup ContactIsaac (Li-Chi) Chen, MD
LiChi.Chen6@umassmed.edu774-455-4758

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026