Clinical Pearls on IL-13 Inhibitors in Atopic Dermatitis, With Mona Shahriari, MD

In another interview segment on-site at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, Mona Shahriari, MD, spoke with the HCPLive editorial team about her session at the conference titled ‘Illuminate the Role of IL-13 Inhibitors for the Management of Atopic Dermatitis.’1

Shahriari, who serves both as associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University and as host of The Medical Sisterhood podcast, highlighted the use of interleukin (IL)-13 inhibition in the management of atopic dermatitis. IL-13 is known in the dermatology space as 1 of the main cytokines in the pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis.2

“Right now, [atopic dermatitis] is being increasingly recognized as an IL-13 dominant disease,” Shahriari explained. “IL-13 is not just another pro-inflammatory cytokine. It actually does a lot in our bodies. It can be present in both lesional and non-lesional skin. It can contribute to the severity and the chronicity of the atopic dermatitis. It's present in a variety of skin tones, and we also see it throughout the life span of someone's [atopic dermatitis], from infancy all the way to adulthood. It contributes to itch.”

Shahriari pointed to the helpfulness of targeting IL-13, as direct inhibition is known to help a lot of patients with the signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis. Three examples of IL-13-inhibiting medications in her session included dupilumab, tralokinumab, and lebrikizumab.

“[We] talked about tralekiniumab and lebrikizumab, which both target IL-13 cytokine specifically, and thereby prevent it from interacting with this receptor,” Shahriari said. “Those two molecules, even though they both target the cytokine, are a little bit different. Lebrikizumab latches onto that IL-13 molecule more intensely with a higher affinity, lower dissociation rate, so it doesn't really want to let go. So they are very distinct molecules from that standpoint.”

Shahriari went on to discuss a set of data on IL-13 inhibitors and atopic dermatitis.

“We talked about a dupilumab patient who developed conjunctivitis and inadequate response,” she explained. “Then we touched upon how, with some of the data that we currently have, if a patient is not doing well on duty, whether it's due to a inadequate response or an adverse event, they have a pretty good shot at doing well if you switch them to one of our IL-13 blocking agents, or you switch them over to a JAK inhibitor.”

To learn more about the topics highlighted in this session, view the interview above.

For more on recent data and dermatology news, view the the latest coverage of Fall Clinical Dermatology.

Shahriari has previously reported personal fees from AbbVie, Apogee, Arcutis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dermavant, Galderma, Incyte, Johnson & Johnson, LEO, Lilly USA, Novartis, Ortho Dermatologics, Regeneron, Sanofi-Genzyme, Takeda, and UCB and has served as a speaker for AbbVie, Arcutis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dermavant, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly USA, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi-Genzyme, and UCB. She has also served as an investigator for AbbVie, Cara, CorEvitas Atopic Dermatitis Registry, CorEvitas Psoriasis Registry, Dermavant, Dermira, Lilly USA, Mindera, Novartis, and Unio.

References

1. Shahriari M, Kwatra S, et al. CME Satellite Symposium: Illuminate the Role of IL-13 Inhibitors for the Management of Atopic Dermatitis. Session presentation at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct 23-26, 2025.

2. Gonçalves F, Freitas E, Torres T. Selective IL-13 inhibitors for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Drugs Context. 2021 Mar 30;10:2021-1-7. doi: 10.7573/dic.2021-1-7. PMID: 33889195; PMCID: PMC8015935.