Cyclosporine Treats Severe Poison Ivy in Case Study

In a case study presented at the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting, researchers successfully treated a 33-year-old patient with yearly, unavoidable poision ivy exposure without using steroids.

Instead, researchers used a 200-mg/day cyclosporine regimen during the patient's exposure period, which resulted in a resolution of poison ivy symptoms after 6 weeks of therapy. The dose was also decreased to 100 mg every other day without the poison ivy symptoms returning, and without the need for topical or systemic corticosteroids.