Abstract
Irritant and allergic contact dermatitis are common inflammatory skin diseases. Although both diseases have very similar clinical presentations, they can be differentiated on pathophysiological grounds. Irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) is a nonspecific inflammatory dermatitis, mainly due to the activation of the innate immune system. Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) corresponds to a delayed-type hypersensitivity response with a skin inflammation mediated by antigen-specific T cells. Better understanding of the pathophysiology of ACD and ICD confirms that the best way to prevent ACD is to prevent the occurrence of ICD.
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Nosbaum, A., Nicolas, JF. (2014). Irritant Versus Allergic Contact Dermatitis: An Etiopathological Approach. In: Alikhan, A., Lachapelle, JM., Maibach, H. (eds) Textbook of Hand Eczema. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39546-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39546-8_6
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