Introduction
Atopic dermatitis is a complex disorder that is affected by genetic and environmental factors in which a defective skin barrier, reduced skin innate immune responses, and polarized adaptive immune responses to environmental allergens and microbes lead to chronic skin inflammation.1-3 Recent studies indicated that dyslipidemia is associated with an altered adaptive immune response of Th2 cells4 and the presence of allergic diseases, particularly allergen sensitization,5-7asthma,6,8 and allergic rhinitis.9
However, only a limited number of studies have examined the lipid profiles of adults with atopic dermatitis.7,10-13 Some of these studies concluded that atopic dermatitis is associated with hyperlipidemia,7,10 but others reported no such association.11-13 In addition, few studies have examined the association of hyperlipidemia with atopic dermatitis in children,14 and no long-term follow up studies have directly assessed the severity of atopic dermatitis in children.
We hypothesized that children with atopic dermatitis have dyslipidemia. Thus, we examined one group of children and assessed severity of atopic dermatitis using SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) and measured the levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). We also hypothesized that dyslipidemia was a possible cause of atopic dermatitis, and performed a follow-up study of another group of asymptomatic children to record the onset of atopic dermatitis in those with different lipid profiles.