Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.
2008 Dec;18(4):316-325.
The Investigation of Hypoproteinemia in Severe Infantile Atopic Dermatitis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Pediatrics, Busan St. Mary's Medical Center, Busan, Korea. sbdph1@paran.com
Abstract
- PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to understand the clinical features and to analyze the risk factors for a severe complication such as hypoproteinemia in infants with severe atopic dermatitis.
METHODS
Twenty-four infants with severe atopic dermatitis with SCORAD score >50 were enrolled, who visited pediatric allergy clinic between January 2005 and December 2007. Infants with blood protein level of <5 g/dL were classified Group A (n=8) and those of >5 g/dL as Group B (n=16). Age, sex, onset age, breast feeding, marternal protein-restriction diet during breast feeding, family history of allergy, and prior treatment before visit were studied. We examined serum ECP, total IgE, and allergen specific IgE by immuno CAP system (Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden) and tried to identify organisms by the culture of skin wound. Infants with blood protein level of <5 g/dL were classified Group A (n=8) and those of >5 g/dL as Group B (n=16). We also analyzed the risk factors for hypoproteinemia.
RESULTS
Blood protein level was inversely correlated with total IgE (r=-0.610), SCORAD score (r=-0.686) and the number of sensitized allergens (r=-0.636). The sentisization of the house dust mite was also one of the risk factors for hypoproteinemia.
CONCLUSION
Our study suggests that the risk factors for hypoproteinemia in infantile atopic dermatitis are high SCORAD score and the sentisization of the house dust mite and that hypoproteinemia associates with high serum levels of IgE and increased number of food sensitized allergens.
