Ann Dermatol.  2019 Jun;31(3):286-293. 10.5021/ad.2019.31.3.286.

Clinical Characteristics and Genetic Variations in Early-Onset Atopic Dermatitis Patients

• Kim BJ
• Wang HY
• Lee H
• Lee SY
• Hong SJ
• Choi EH

• KMID: 2444860
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2019.31.3.286

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Hereditary factors contribute to atopic dermatitis (AD) development. We developed the reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) kit to simultaneously detect variations in skin barrier- and immune response-related genes prevalent in Korean AD patients.
OBJECTIVE
To identify genetic variations and clinical characteristics that could predict early AD development.
METHODS
We compared AD-related genetic variations between early-onset AD subjects and non-AD controls, and clinical characteristics and genetic variations between early- and late-onset AD subjects. We compared 28 early-onset AD subjects and 57 non-AD controls from a birth cohort and 108 early- (age ≤3 years) and 90 late-onset AD subjects and 189 non-AD controls from a university hospital. Genetic variations were detected via REBA.
RESULTS
There were no differences in AD-related genetic variation between early-onset AD subjects and non-AD controls in the birth cohort. When the birth cohort and hospital populations were combined, early-onset AD subjects and non-AD controls showed different frequencies of genetic variations of KLK7, SPINK5 1156, DEFB1, IL5RA, IL12RB1a, and IL12RB1b. No differences in the frequency of genetic variations were observed between early- and late-onset AD subjects. Immunoglobulin E positivity for house dust mites was prevalent in late-onset AD subjects. A family history of atopic diseases was associated with early-onset AD.
CONCLUSION
No AD-related genetic variations could predict early AD development in Koreans, even though neonates with a family history of atopic diseases are likely to develop AD at ≤3 years of age. Environmental exposure may be more important than genetic variation in determining the onset age of AD.

Keyword

Atopic dermatitis; Early onset; Genetic variation; Reverse blot hybridization assay; Skin barrier

MeSH Terms

Age of Onset
Cohort Studies
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Environmental Exposure
Genetic Variation*
Humans
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulins
Infant, Newborn
Parturition
Pyroglyphidae
Skin
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Study design. This study is comprised of two main comparisons. (1) To compare atopic dermatitis (AD)-related genetic variations between early-onset AD subjects and non-AD controls, 28 early-onset AD subjects and 57 non-AD controls in a birth cohort were compared. In the birth cohort, AD subjects and non-AD controls were classified at three years of age. In the additional comparison, 51 early-onset AD subjects from the university hospital were added to 28 early-onset AD subjects from the birth cohort (n=79), and they were compared with the non-AD controls of the university hospital (n=189). (2) To identify factors that could predict early AD development, we compared the clinical characteristics and genetic variations between 108 early- and 90 late-onset AD subjects from the university hospital.

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