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New Research - May 2009Isolation of alpha-toxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus from the skin of highly sensitized adult patients with severe atopic dermatitisIt is well known that atopic dermatitis patients are colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. It is also known that colonization seems to trigger the severity of the disease. It has been shown that staphylococcal super-antigens may play a role in this regard. The authors of this abstract looked at alpha-toxin to determine whether it also was associated with more severe atopic dermatitis. They studied 127 patients with atopic dermatitis. The age range of the patients studied was 14 to 65 years. They found that 48 of the 127 patients were colonized with S. aureus. In those colonized, the atopic dermatitis was more severe. These patients also had asthma more frequently than those non-colonized. In addition, they showed greater sensitization to inhalant allergies. Thirty of the 48 patients that were colonized with S. aureus produced alpha-toxin, had higher total IgE, and specific IgE to birch pollen and Timothy grass pollen. The authors concluded that colonization with S. aureus was associated with a "higher severity of atopic dermatitis, higher degree of sensitization, and higher frequency of asthma." Reference
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