Korean J Dermatol.  2015 Mar;53(3):196-201.

Effect of a Histamine-free Diet in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

• Byun YS
• Cho HJ
• Kim HO
• Park CW

Abstract

BACKGROUND
For atopic dermatitis (AD), the causal relationship between food and exacerbation is relatively weak in adults compared to children. However, many adult patients report food-related aggravation of AD, and some may have histamine intolerance.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of ingested histamine and investigate the effect of a histamine-free diet in adult patients with AD.
METHODS
Adult patients with AD and healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were prohibited from eating foods with high amounts of histamine for 4 weeks. There were no diet restrictions for the controls. The eczema area and severity index (EASI) and degree of pruritus using the visual analogue scale (VAS) were evaluated. Plasma histamine levels and diamine oxidase (DAO) activity were determined, and compared with those of the control group.
RESULTS
Seventeen adult patients were recruited and of these, 12 completed the 4-week histamine-free diet. There was no significant difference in the basal plasma histamine levels between the patients and controls. Basal DAO activity was significantly higher in patients compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in plasma histamine levels after the histamine free-diet and DAO activity was not altered. Moreover, EASI and VAS were similar before and after the histamine-free diet.
CONCLUSION
Ingested histamine might be unrelated with AD severity and a histamine-free diet is unhelpful for adult patients with AD.

Keyword

Atopic dermatitis; Dietary patterns; Food intolerance; Histamine-free diet

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing)
Child
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Diet*
Eating
Eczema
Histamine
Humans
Plasma
Pruritus
Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing)
Histamine