Topical Application of Cyclosporine on Guinea Pig Allergic Contact Dermatitis

To the Editor.—  We were very interested in the article by Nakagawa et al¹ in the June 1988 issue of the Archives, concerning the effect of topical application of cyclosporine A on guinea pig allergic contact dermatitis.¹ The authors found the drug to be effective in suppressing skin reactions to dinitrochlorobenzene in previously sensitized animals.On the other hand, a recent study where topical cyclosporine A was used in human allergic contact dermatitis, according to the method standardized by Sukanio et al,² led us to negative results.We studied 14 patients affected with proven allergic contact dermatitis. Pretreatment of the patch test area with cyclosporine A in different concentrations (0.1% to 1% to 10% in Labrafil) did not lower the intensity of the positive patch test reaction. According to the literature,² only 0.25% desoxymethasone was able to inhibit the eczematous response to the hapten.³To the