Correlation of serum interleukin-31 with pruritus and blood eosinophil markers in children with atopic dermatitis.

Jung Hye Byeon, Wonsuck Yoon, So Hyun Ahn, Hyo Sun Lee, Seunghyun Kim, Young Yoo

Allergy and asthma proceedings 2020 Jan 01

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Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is chronic pruritic inflammatory skin disease in children. Interleukin (IL) 31 is a recently discovered cytokine associated with chronic skin inflammation and pruritus. Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine whether serum IL-31 levels are increased in children with AD and to examine the relationship between IL-31 and other clinical biomarkers in AD. Methods: Serum cytokine levels, including IL-31, IL-4, and IL-12, were measured in 38 patients with AD and 10 healthy children. Peripheral blood eosinophils, serum immunoglobulin E levels, eosinophil cationic protein, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) were measured. We also estimated the clinical severity of AD by using the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index by a single clinician. Results: The serum IL-31 levels were significantly higher in the patients with AD than in the healthy children. IL-31 correlated well with the SCORAD index and blood eosinophilic inflammatory markers. The serum level of TSLP was also higher in patients with AD than in the healthy children; however, levels of IL-4 and IL-12 were not different between AD and healthy children. There was no significant difference in serum IL-31 levels between patients with atopic AD and nonatopic AD. Conclusion: This study showed that serum IL-31 levels were significantly elevated in patients with AD than in the healthy children and correlated well with disease severity. IL-31 seemed to be one of the cytokines that induce pruritus and eosinophilic inflammation in AD. Serum IL-31 correlated with pruritic symptoms and disease course of AD.

Citation

Jung Hye Byeon, Wonsuck Yoon, So Hyun Ahn, Hyo Sun Lee, Seunghyun Kim, Young Yoo. Correlation of serum interleukin-31 with pruritus and blood eosinophil markers in children with atopic dermatitis. Allergy and asthma proceedings. 2020 Jan 01;41(1):59-65