Aim To examine whether adults with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) had reduced insulin sensitivity and/or exhibited other gluco-metabolic disturbances compared with carefully matched healthy controls. Materials and methods Sixteen adult, non-obese, non-diabetic patients with mild to moderate AD and 16 gender-, age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls underwent a hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp (insulin infusion rate: 40 mU/m(2)/minute) and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with frequent blood sampling for gut and pancreatic hormones. Results The two groups were similar in age (33 +/- 3 vs. 33 +/- 3 years, mean +/- standard error of the mean [SEM]), gender (56% women), BMI (24.5 +/- 0.7 vs. 24.4 +/- 0.7 kg/m(2)), physical activity level, fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c. Patients with AD had a mean Eczema Area and Severity Index score of 8.5 +/- 1.0 (moderate disease) and a mean AD duration of 28 +/- 3 years. During the OGTT, circulating glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucagon and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, respectively, were similar in the two groups, except glucagon-like peptide-1, which was higher in patients with AD. The clamp showed no differences in insulin sensitivity between groups (M-value 9.2 +/- 0.6 vs. 9.8 +/- 0.8,P= .541, 95% CI -1.51; 2.60), or circulating insulin, C-peptide and glucagon levels. Conclusions Using OGTT and the hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp technique, we found no difference in insulin sensitivity or other gluco-metabolic characteristics between patients with mild to moderate AD and matched healthy controls, suggesting that the inflammatory skin disease AD has little or no influence on glucose metabolism.