Skin microbiota predicts atopic dermatitis in infants

Key takeaways:

• Samples of skin microbiota in infants showed lower levels of natural moisturizing in patients who later developed AD.
• Higher peptide levels were also recorded in these subjects.

WASHINGTON — Atopic dermatitis can be predicted in children aged as young as 6 months with skin microbiome and metabolome signatures, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

Using the Singapore Preconception Study of Long-Term Maternal and Child Outcomes mother-offspring cohort, researchers collected tape strips from 119 infants at four timepoints — at age 7 days and 3, 6 and 18 months — and conducted whole metagenomic sequencing, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) profiling and natural moisturizing factors (NMF) profiling.

At age 6 months and 18 months, the subjects were evaluated for AD symptoms. At age 6 months, 30.8% had AD, whereas 20.8% had symptoms of AD at age 18 months.

In those that were diagnosed with AD, early life skin microbiota was more likely to be driven by the enrichment of specific, identifiable, bacterial species in the first weeks and months of life.

Lower levels of natural moisturizing factors and higher antimicrobial peptide levels were also present in these subjects’ early tape strips.

“We found that distinct skin microbiota, NMF and AMP signatures in early life predicted atopic dermatitis by 18 months of age, indicating their potential role as predictive markers in identifying infants at risk of atopic dermatitis,” Elizabeth Huiwen Tham, MBBS, of the department of pediatrics at Yong Soo Lin School of Medicine and the Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute, National University Health System, Singapore, and the study’s lead author, said in an AAAAI press release.

These results suggest these biomarkers can be used to predict AD in children, which can be used for early intervention strategies.

References:

• Early-life skin microbiome and metabolome signatures could predict atopic dermatitis in infants. https://www.aaaai.org/about/news/news/2024/microbiome. Published Feb. 5, 2024. Accessed Feb. 28, 2024.
• Tham EH, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024;doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2023.11.907.