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Eczema – in the focus between dermatology and allergology

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Summary

Eczemas represent the most common non-communicable inflammatory skin diseases. Eczema is a non-contagious epidermo-dermitis with typical clinical (redness, scaling, oozing, crusting, lichenification and itch) and dermatohistological (acanthosis, parakeratosis, spongiosis, lymphocytic infiltrates) signs. Eczema mostly occurs on the basis of hypersensitivity. In a simple classification, eczema can be differentiated into contact eczema (irritative toxic, allergic), atopic eczema (atopic dermatitis), seborrheic eczema, nummular eczema and others. Eczema can also be classified according to elicitors (e. g. nickel eczema, chromate eczema) or localization (e. g. eyelid eczema, leg eczema etc.). There is a gap between the progress in pathophysiological understanding of the deviated immune response and the practical management in everyday clinics. At the moment there is not yet a targeted treatment with biologics as is available for psoriasis. However, with anti-IL4 receptor antagonists there is hope on the horizon.

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Abbreviations

ALG:

Anti-human lymphocyte globuline

APT:

Atopy patch test

CLA:

Cutaneous lymphocyte-associated antigen

DTH:

Delayed type hypersensitivity

EAACI:

European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

GWAS:

Genome-wide association studies

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

IDEC:

Inflammatory dendritic epidermal cell

IgE:

Immunoglobulin E

IVDK:

Informationsverbund Dermatologischer Kliniken

MDBGN:

Methyldibenzo glutaronitrile

MoAb:

Monoclonal antibodies

PDE:

Phosphodiesterase

PET:

Positron emission tomography

SDRIFE:

Systemic drug-related intertriginous and flexural exanthema

Th:

T helper cell

TSLP:

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin

WAO:

World Allergy Organization

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Johannes Ring

  2. Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-CARE), Hochgebirgsklinik, Davos, Switzerland

    Johannes Ring

  3. Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, Technical University Munich, Biedersteiner Str. 29, 80802, München, Germany

    Johannes Ring

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Correspondence to Johannes Ring.

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Comment

The paper is based on the farewell lecture of the author at the Faculty of Medicine, Technical University Munich, on 7th February 2014.

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The author states that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Ring J. Eczema - in the focus between dermatology and allergology. Allergo J Int 2015;24:129–42 DOI: 10.1007/s40629-015-0063-3

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Ring, J. Eczema – in the focus between dermatology and allergology. Allergo J Int 24, 129–142 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40629-015-0063-3

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