VUB and UZ Brussel SKIN research group identifies autoreactive IgE antibodies as biomarker for patients that live with atopic dermatitis in combination with additional allergic diseases
Potential for prevention and early treatment
14 September 2023
Jan Gutermuth and Inge Kortekaas and other members of the SKIN Research Group together with Prof. Thomas Bieber and co-workers from the University of Bonn/Germany and the Christine Kühne - Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-Care; Switzerland) analyzed serum samples from more than 600 patients living with atopic dermatitis for the presence autoreactive IgE-antibodies directed against human skin. The researchers identified a strong link of IgE-autoreactivity with allergic diseases, including allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma and food allergy. In addition, patients with IgE-autoantibodies showed strong correlation with factors that are known as important factors in airway allergies, such as relatively young age, being born during pollen season and reduced exposure the immunity stimulating factors derived from keeping pets at home.
These results were recently presented at the Annual Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Hamburg and published in the renowned journal Allergy.
The group now teams with the UZ Brussel departments of Obstetrics, Neonatology, Pediatrics and Microbiology in order to build the “DIANA birth cohort” (Development of IgE Autoantibodies in Newborns with Atopic dermatitis). The study team aims to investigate when IgE-autoreactivity develops in children and whether it can predict the development of atopic dermatitis, food allergy, allergic rhinitis or asthma. Such knowledge can pave the way to specific prevention and very early treatment in order to minimize suffering of affected children and adults.
This work was funded by the Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education, the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO; 12W2219N and G056322N), the Research Council of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Sanofi Regeneron Pathways Global Innovation Grant (0000000122) and the Scientific Fund Willy Gepts of UZ Brussel.
Images: Lies Willaert
Karolien De Prez