Study of urinary leukotriene E4 in atopic dermatitis: relation to disease severity

INTRODUCTION There is increasing evidence that the frequency of atopic diseases including atopic dermatitis has increased over the last few decades with prevalence rates ranging between 10-20%. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease seen in patients with a personal or family history of atopy. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie AD has important clinical implications for the development of new management protocols for this illness. IgE-mediated mechanisms play a mutlifactorial role in the pathogenesis of AD. Serum IgE levels are elevated in 80-85% of AD patients and is considered an important hallmark of the disease. Eosinophilia is another important finding in the peripheral blood of the allergic type and eosinophils play an effector role in AD as they Original article