Samsung Seoul Hospital Professors Angangmo and Kim Jihyun Team
Develop New Biomarker with US Researchers
Expected to Aid Prevention Before Symptom Onset
Korean and American researchers have developed a method to predict the risk of developing 'atopic dermatitis,' one of the representative diseases that cause distress to children. They discovered lipid biomarkers in the skin related to atopic dermatitis, which is expected to help in early detection and prevention before symptoms appear.
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents, Samsung Medical Center, Professors Gangmo An and Jihyun Kim. [Photo by Samsung Medical Center]
Professors Kangmo Ahn and Jihyun Kim from the Department of Pediatrics at Samsung Medical Center, along with Professors Donald Leung and Yevgeniy Berdyshev from National Jewish Health in the United States, announced on the 2nd that they have developed a model to predict the onset of atopic dermatitis before the age of 2 by early assessment at 2 months of age.
The research team collected skin stratum corneum samples from the arms of 111 infants without skin abnormalities at 2 months old using tape stripping, analyzed the skin lipid composition and cytokines, and then conducted follow-up observations until 24 months of age.
As a result, they confirmed that changes in skin lipid composition and cytokine expression in the skin occur as early as 2 months of age, before the onset of atopic dermatitis. In particular, infants with a family history of allergies who had high levels of IL-13 protein and 26:1 unsaturated sphingomyelin in the skin, and low levels of protein-bound ceramide (O30:0(C20S)-CER), showed up to a 54-fold increase in the likelihood of developing atopic dermatitis.
The research team reported that by combining non-invasive tape stripping of the skin stratum corneum with analysis of family history, skin lipid changes, and cytokine expression, the predictive power for the onset of atopic dermatitis can be dramatically improved in the future.
They published the model for early prediction of atopic dermatitis onset before age 2 at 2 months of age in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (IF=14.29). The research team stated, "Predicting the onset of atopic dermatitis is very important because early intervention can reduce patients' suffering and decrease medical burdens," adding, "It is expected to prevent disease progression leading to the allergic march and open the foundation for personalized treatment considering individual characteristics in the future."
This study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (IF=14.29) and was introduced at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology conference held in the United States at the end of last month, attracting attention from the academic community. Meanwhile, this research was supported by the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute.
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