Digging skin deep
Disrupted epithelial barriers are thought to be central to development of allergic disorders such as atopic dermatitis, which is commonly associated with food allergy. Leung et al. performed repeated skin tape stripping on lesional and nonlesional skin of patients with pediatric atopic dermatitis, some of whom also had food allergies. Among other parameters, they measured lipids, proteins, barrier integrity, and the microbiome. They found that nonlesional skin from patients with atopic dermatitis had different characteristics depending on whether the patient also had food allergy. Gene expression analysis also showed elevated type 2 immune signatures in food allergic samples. Their findings reveal unique properties about the epidermis in allergic disease and could lead to the development of biomarkers for food allergy.
Abstract
Skin barrier dysfunction has been reported in both atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy (FA). However, only one-third of patients with AD have FA.
