Allergic contact dermatitis: understanding the immune response and potential for targeted therapy using cytokines.

Allergic contact dermatitis is the most common job-related disease of the western world. The only available treatments are avoidance of contact with the allergen and the use of potent corticosteroids. Recently, the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of this disease has been studied and, besides defining the key molecules and basic cellular immune responses responsible for disease development, these studies might help to develop new therapeutic strategies to target cytokines and thereby try to alter or abrogate ongoing immune reactions.