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Skin phenotype of atopic dermatitis identified in infants

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine have identified the skin phenotype of atopic dermatitis in infants, according to a press release.

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, investigated lesional and nonlesional skin biopsies from 19 infants aged younger than 5 years with atopic dermatitis (AD). The researchers, Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology and immunology and vice chair of the department of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine, and Amy S. Paller, MD, the Walter J. Hamlin professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Northwestern, determined that the nonlesional skin of young children with early eczema is already highly abnormal with significant immune activation.

“The important findings may suggest the need for early immune intervention at a young age, not only to treat eczema but perhaps also to prevent other allergic diseases (such as asthma, food allergies, seasonal allergies) which usually follow the development of eczema, also known as the atopic march,” Guttman-Yassky said in the release.

Additional findings indicated that pediatric AD is associated with increased lymphocyte activation, including Th2 lymphocyte cells that resemble those found in adults with AD. The researchers found that unlike the adult disease, however, the pediatric eczema profile has robust and significant increases of Th17 T lymphocyte cells. One other difference found between profiles was the absence of abnormalities in pediatric eczema skin in the abundant barrier differentiation protein filaggrin, noted to be markedly deficient in adult eczema skin.

“For the first time, this study shows that many of the same changes seen in adult AD are, in fact, present and sometimes even greater in infants and young children with moderate to severe AD within 6 months of disease onset,” Paller said in the release.

The researchers said they expect these findings to assist in developing new therapeutic options for adults and children with eczema.

Reference: www.mountsinai.org