Serum IgE and atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Background Atopic dermatitis is a common chronic disease that starts early in infancy and may continue into adolescence presenting a consistent problem to the patient and in severe cases to the whole family. Many hypotheses claimed to explain the clinical course of Atopic Dermatitis by attributing a central role to serum IgE levels. Yet despite the fact that high IgE levels are detected in 80%-90% of cases of atopic dermatitis, normal levels of serum IgE do not rule out the presence of the disease. Very few studies were done among Africans to measure the serum IgE levels in children with atopic dermatitis. This is a crosssectional, hospital –based study, done in Khartoum Dermatology and Venereal Teaching Hospital, during the period from June 2009 to February 2010. It has been planned to probe into the role of IgE in the clinical course and severity of
Atopic Dermatitis in Sudanese Children.
Methods A total of 54 patients with Atopic Dermatitis diagnosed clinically
according to the criteria of the American Academy of dermatology were included in the study. Of those 37(69%) were males, and 17(31%) were females. All Patients were cross examined and the severity index according to the objective SCORAD index was determined. Total serum IgE levels were measured by immunoassay.
Results The total serum IgE level according to age-specific upper limit was
found to be high among 74.1%. This level was found to correlate significantly with the SCORAD index values (using regression test).
Conclusions Our study concluded that total serum immunoglobulin (Ig) E
does have much predictive value for the diagnosis of AD and can be used as an important marker in the assessment of the disease severity and is important for the follow-up of children with AD.