leptin and Dermatitis--Atopic

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most frequent chronic inflammatory skin disease, and its incidence has been rapidly increasing in developed countries in the last years. AD presents a high degree of heterogeneity due to biases and confounding factors such as age range, sex, or ethnicity. For those reasons, the search for new biomarkers is crucial. At the same time, obesity, which is a global health problem, has also increased over the years. It has been associated with many pathophysiological states, including skin diseases such as AD, mostly in childhood. Obesity promotes a low grade inflammation driven by many different cytokines and adipokines, including leptin, which has a key role in many other diseases due to its pleiotropic effects. Leptin also has a role in both skin and allergic diseases very related to AD. Thus, this adipokine could have an important role in the pathogenesis of AD, especially in its chronicity. Despite the limited literature available, there is some evidence that leads us to consider leptin as an important adipokine in this skin disease. For this reason, here we have reviewed the role of leptin in the pathophysiology of AD.

Topics: Cytokines; Dermatitis, Atopic; Leptin; Skin

The prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and obesity have been increasing considerably in Korean school-children. AD is a chronic pruritic recurrent inflammatory skin disorder. Leptin is secreted by adipocytes which has been suggested to be immunologically active; however, their role in AD has not yet been well understood. A total of 227 subjects out of 2,109 elementary school children were defined as having AD based on the ISAAC questionnaire survey. Ninety subjects with AD, aged between 6 and 12 years, completed scoring of severity of AD (SCORAD), skin prick testing, blood tests for total IgE, eosinophil counts, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and lipid profiles. Serum leptin levels were also measured. A subject with atopic AD was defined as an AD patient showing at least 1 positive reaction to allergens in skin prick testing. There were no significant differences in age, body mass index, percentage of breast milk feeding, mode of delivery, prevalence of atopy, and lipid profiles between atopic AD and non-atopic AD subjects. The serum leptin levels (log mean±SD) were significantly higher in non-atopic AD group than in the atopic AD group (0.86±0.57 ng/mL vs 0.53±0.72 ng/mL, p=0.045). Subjects with mild-to-moderate AD showed significantly higher serum leptin levels than those with severe AD (0.77±0.67 ng/mL vs 0.33±0.69 ng/mL, p=0.028). There was a marginal inverse correlation between the SCORAD index and the serum leptin concentration in total AD subjects (r=-0.216, p=0.053). The serum leptin levels were significantly higher in non-atopic AD subjects or mild-to-moderate AD subjects. Leptin did not seem to be associated with IgE-mediated inflammation in AD. Obesity-associated high leptin differed between non-atopic AD and atopic AD subjects.

Topics: Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dermatitis, Atopic; Eosinophil Cationic Protein; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin E; Leptin; Leukocyte Count; Lipids; Male; Obesity; Republic of Korea

Topics: Adiponectin; Adolescent; Adult; Biomarkers; Body Mass Index; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Dermatitis, Atopic; Female; Humans; Leptin; Male; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Republic of Korea; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index

Topics: Biomarkers, Pharmacological; Cells, Cultured; Claudins; Clinical Protocols; Cyclosporine; Dermatitis, Atopic; Follow-Up Studies; Genome; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents; Interferon-gamma; Leptin; Recurrence; T-Lymphocyte Subsets; Th2 Cells; Transcriptome; Treatment Outcome; Ultraviolet Therapy

Topics: Cholesterol; Dermatitis, Atopic; Fatty Liver; Female; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Japan; Leptin; Male; Risk Factors; Triglycerides; Ultrasonography

Topics: Adult; Dermatitis, Atopic; Female; Humans; Laughter; Leptin; Milk, Human; Stress, Psychological

Leptin, the obese gene product, is a 16-kDa peptide hormone secreted by adiposities. Systemic administration of exogenous glucocorticoids has been found to increase circulating leptin levels. In this study, we aimed to assess serum leptin in children with atopic dermatitis (AD)-treated with local steroids. Twenty children with AD were included during the 2001-2002 time period. The study was conducted prospectively. Atopy was defined as the presence of at least one aeroallergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody. Serum leptin was determined using a commercially available radioimmunoassay kit with 3.4-8.3% intra-assay and 3.0-6.2% interassay coefficients of variation, and 0.5 ng/ml sensitivity. Fourteen boys and six girls with AD, the mean age of the patients was 3.1 +/- 2.2. Forty-three percentage of the family histories for atopy were positive, 60% of the cases passive smoking histories were positive. In seven patients the aeroallergen-specific IgE were positive. All 20 patients treated clobetasone 17-butirate (0.05%). There was no significant difference in serum leptin between patients (mean +/- s.d.: 4.6 +/- 3.8), and controls (mean +/- s.d.: 6.2 +/- 3.6) (p > 0.05). Local steroid does not influence circulating leptin levels, suggesting that regulation of body weight is unaffected.

Topics: Administration, Topical; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Clobetasol; Dermatitis, Atopic; Female; Glucocorticoids; Humans; Immunoglobulin E; Infant; Leptin; Male; Prospective Studies

Topics: Alanine Transaminase; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Body Mass Index; Child; Child Welfare; Child, Preschool; Cholesterol, LDL; Dermatitis, Atopic; Fatty Liver; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Immunoglobulin E; Immunoglobulin G; Infant; Infant Welfare; Leptin; Male