A Study of an Autologous Serum Skin Test in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: Relationship between the Autologous Serum Skin Test and Total Serum IgE Levels, Disease Severity, Disease Duration, and Multiple Allergen Simultaneous Test (MAST) Results in Atop / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The autologous serum skin test (ASST) is a simple test for detecting functional circulating autoantibodies. In addition, immunoglobulin E (IgE) autoreactivity seems to play a role in the pathogenesis and disease course of atopic dermatitis (AD). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine whether the ASST results were positive in AD patients and to find the relationship between ASST and total serum IgE levels, disease severity, disease duration, and multiple allergen simultaneous test (MAST) results in AD. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with AD who underwent ASST were included in this study. We analyzed total serum IgE concentrations, severity, duration of disease, and allergen frequencies between the ASST-positive and -negative groups. Disease severity was evaluated using the Rajka and Langeland eczema severity score. RESULTS: ASST results were positive in 34.0% (17/52) of patients, and the positivity rates of ASST in IgE-mediated AD patients was 39.0% (16/41), which was significantly higher than in non-IgE-mediated AD patients. Additionally, IgE-mediated AD patients with positive ASST results showed greater disease severity, longer disease duration, and a greater number of allergens than ASST-negative patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This is the first study to evaluate the results of ASST in patients with AD. According to our results, ASST would be a useful test in AD and could be related to autoimmunity, severity, and disease course of AD, especially in IgE-mediated AD. Further studies with more patients are needed to confirm these findings.