VIDEO: Protecting skin barrier may prevent food allergy

Key takeaways:

• There is an “intimate connection between the skin barrier and the microbiome.”
• Preserving the skin barrier and microbiome may prevent atopic dermatitis and subsequent food allergy.

CHICAGO — By protecting the skin barrier against atopic dermatitis, physicians may prevent food allergy as well, according to a presentation at the Global Food Allergy Prevention Summit.

It all begins with the “intimate connection between the skin barrier and the microbiome,” Peter Lio, MD, clinical assistant of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Healio.

“It’s a ‘chicken and the egg’ concept in when one of them becomes disrupted, the other quickly follows. It’s actually somewhat difficult to know which one is being disrupted first,” Lio said.

Environmental factors such as diisocyanates from wildfires and fossil fuels may trigger AD, Lio continued, putting patients on the atopic march toward food allergy and other allergic diseases.

“We really think that if we can fortify the skin barrier, protect the microbiome, it is possible that we can completely avoid or at least delay the development of atopic dermatitis and food allergy,” Lio said.

Reference:

• Lio P, et al. Skin microbiome (Atopic dermatitis and food allergy). Presented at: Global Food Allergy Prevention Summit; July 7-9, 2023; Chicago.