Air pollutants linked to increased risk of Atopic dermatitis: AAD study
Long-term exposure to air pollutants, including gases and particulate matter, is an independent risk factor for developing Atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a new study.
The findings have been elaborated in the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease and a growing health concern, because of its high prevalence and associated low quality of life. Genetic predisposition, environmental triggers, or interactions between them contribute to the pathophysiology of Atopic dermatitis (AD).
Both indoor and outdoor air pollution, which are of increasing concern with urbanization, are well-known environmental risk factors for asthma, whereas there is relatively little evidence in AD. It is very important to identify and control risk factors from the environment in susceptible subjects for successful treatment and prevention.
Accumulating evidence now suggests that a variety of air pollutants, such as environmental tobacco smoke, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, toluene, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter, act as risk factors for the development or aggravation of AD. These air pollutants probably induce oxidative stress in the skin, leading to skin barrier dysfunction or immune dysregulation. However, these results are still controversial because of the low number of studies. To date, little evidence is available to strongly determine whether atopic dermatitis (AD) can be caused by exposure to air pollutants, including gases and particulate matter.
With this limited background , a team of researchers attached to Department of Dermatology,Republic of Korea, aimed to evaluate the relationship between air pollutants and incidence of AD, using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database.
The study population included 209,168 subjects from the general population previously not diagnosed with AD between 2008 and 2013. Long-term average concentration of air pollutants before diagnosis was calculated for each subject.
Results highlighted some key facts.
- For 1,030,324 person-years, incident cases of AD were observed in 3203 subjects.
- There was a significant positive association between incidence of AD and long-term average concentration of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm in diameter (hazard ratio [HR], 1.420; 95% CI, 1.392-1.448; for 1 μg/m 3 ), particulate matter smaller than 10 μm in diameter (HR, 1.333, 95% CI, 1.325-1.341; for 1 μg/m 3 ), sulfur dioxide (HR, 1.626; 95% CI, 1.559-1.695; for 1 parts per billion), nitrogen dioxide (HR, 1.200; 95% CI, 1.187- 1.212; for 1 parts per billion), and carbon monoxide (HR, 1.005; 95% CI, 1.004-1.005; for 1 parts per billion) after adjusting for age, sex, income, comorbid diseases, and meteorologic variables.
Observing the results,the researchers concluded "There was a significant association between the incidence of AD and the long-term average concentration of pollutants. Other factors associated with an increased risk for incident AD were age, female sex, allergic rhinitis, high average temperature, and low average relative humidity."
For the full article follow the link: https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(21)02066-1
Source: Journal of American academy of Dermatology
