IMMUNOLOGIC MARKERS OF SEVERE REFRACTORY ATOPIC DERMATITIS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Every year at NJMRC we see a subset of adult patients in our Day Program with severe atopic dermatitis that is resistant to most traditional therapies. Unlike their child counterparts, improvement in their skin is slow despite intensive hydration therapy and topical medications. We suspect that these patients may have significant dysfunction in the immune defenses of their skin that makes them more susceptible to the effects of bacterial and fungal infection, allergen sensitization. This study will involve taking skin bacterial cultures, skin biopsies and blood samples. An understanding of the underlying differences in the immune system of the skin in these patients may lead to future treatments for atopic dermatitis.