Pilot Study of Melibiose in Patients with Adolescent or Adult-type Atopic Dermatitis

Melibiose (6-O-α-D-galactopyranosyl-D-glucose) is a disaccharide, a small amount of which is contained in honey and soybeans. It was reported that raffinose, which is a trisaccharide built from melibiose and D-fructose, improved symptoms of atopic dermatitis. A 3-month open clinical study was performed using 31 patients with adolescent or adult-type atopic dermatitis to investigate whether melibiose is also useful for atopic dermatitis or not. In the study, 24 (77%) out of 31 patients showed improvement in subjective symptoms. Nineteen (61%) patients showed improvement in objective skin lesions after the treatment. Moreover, the extent of lesions and SCORAD Index were significantly decreased. In the clinical test, the number of eosinophil was significantly decreased after the treatment. No adverse event was observed. These results indicate that melibiose may be useful for atopic dermatitis.