Association of serum lipid parameters with the SCORAD index and onset of atopic dermatitis in children

Background: The association between dyslipidemia and atopic dermatitis in children is unclear. This study investigated the association between dyslipidemia and atopic dermatitis in children by analysis of disease onset, risk factors, and disease severity.

Methods: Subset I examined 7 year-old children in elementary school (n = 248) and Subset II was a retrospective long-term follow-up hospital based-study (n = 52,725) conducted from 1986 to 2016 that used propensity score matching. In the Subset I Study, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) were determined, and the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index was determined. In the Subset II Study, the time of atopic dermatitis onset was determined for asymptomatic subjects whose TC levels were below or above 170 mg/dL.

Results: Our Subset I Study indicated that children with atopic dermatitis (n = 69, 27.8%) had significantly higher levels of TC and TG, and that the SCORAD index had significant associations with high levels of TC and TG, and a low level of HDL-C. Our Subset II Study (1,722 with high TC and 6,735 with normal TC after propensity score matching) indicated the high TC group had a greater hazard ratio (HR) for the onset of atopic dermatitis (consensus-based HR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.23, 5.06, P = 0.012) during 5 years.

Conclusion: An abnormal blood lipid profile in children is associated with the presence of atopic dermatitis and the SCORAD index. The risk of atopic dermatitis onset was significantly greater with high levels of TC.

Keywords: atopic; blood lipid profile; cholesterol; dermatitis; dyslipidemias.