Eosinophilic Panniculitis Following the Subcutaneous Injection of Exenatide Extended-Release

Abstract

Exenatide extended-release was recently developed as an antidiabetic drug; it acts as a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. A 54-year-old male visited our clinic complaining of a subcutaneous tender nodule on his left thigh that had developed over the course of 1 week. The patient had received exenatide extended-release injections for 5 months to treat diabetes. A histopathologic examination showed septal and lobular panniculitis with lymphohistiocyte and eosinophil infiltration. The patient was diagnosed with eosinophilic panniculitis (EP) due to exenatide extended-release injection. EP is a rare type of panniculitis characterized by a prominent infiltrate of eosinophils in the subcutaneous fat layer. It is a histologic reaction pattern that is associated with various clinical conditions. Among the injection-site reactions reported in exenatide extended-release users, injection-site nodules occur infrequently. Clinicians who treat diabetics who use exenatide extended-release should be aware of the possible occurrence of injection-site nodules. (Ann Dermatol 32(3) 230∼232, 2020

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“…This was found to be exenatide-induced eosinophilic panniculitis. 15 The third article included 27 reports from the Food Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System. Each one of the 27 cases reported one or more nodules related to an injection-site reaction.…”