Topical Therapies
Key points • Optimal bathing practices can improve atopic dermatitis (AD) symptoms and limit disease flares. Best practices include daily bathing for less than 10 minutes in lukewarm water, utilizing…
Clinical Evidence: Internal Factors
Key points • Less than 50% of patients affected with atopic dermatitis have a genetic mutation of the skin barrier protein, filaggrin. Thus additional contributing factors, barrier defects, and beyond…
Neurosensory Mechanisms
Key points • Both itch and pain are very frequent symptoms in patients with atopic dermatitis, with a prevalence of more than 50%. • Patients with atopic dermatitis show neuronal…
Clinical Evidence: External Factors
Key points • The fact that up to 50% of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients have loss-of-function genetic mutations of skin barrier protein filaggrin points to a cutaneous weakness that allows…
Epigenetics
Key points • There are three major types of epigenetic modifications: DNA methylation, microRNAs, and posttranslational histone modifications. • DNA methylation and microRNAs alter the expression of atopic dermatitis-associated genes…
Immunogens
Key points • Patients with atopic dermatitis are more susceptible to developing irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). • ICD can present with phenotypic subtypes such as…
Humoral Factors
Key points • Allergen-specific B cells are differentiated into plasma cells producing immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. Through binding to the receptors (FcεRI and FcεRII), IgE induces cytokine and chemokine production…
Oxidative Stress, Environmental Factors, and Pollutants
Key points • The worldwide prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) has risen over recent decades, paralleling industrial and urban growth. • Airborne pollutants induce oxidative damage at the skin interface…
Atopy of the Skin
Key points • Atopy of the skin is manifested as atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema). • Histologically, the atopy of the skin is characterized by epidermal and dermal infiltration predominantly by…
