Abstract:
Associations of family history, infection during pregnancy, cord blood cytokine
concentrations, and skin function parameters with atopic dermatitis were analyzed. Stratum corneum
hydration was measured with an impedance meter until 5 days after delivery and again at 1 month.
Complete data were obtained for 110 infants, including 27 diagnosed by a physician as having atopic
dermatitis during their first year and 26 diagnosed as having infantile eczema during their first month.
The risk of atopic dermatitis during the first year of life was related to maternal atopic dermatitis,
lower concentrations of macrophage inflammatory protein in cord blood, and greater skin moisture in
the surface and stratum corneum of the forehead and cheek at 1 month of age but not to viral or
bacterial infection during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Paternal hay fever was associated negatively with the development of atopic dermatitis. High concentrations of interleukin-5, interleukin-17, and
macrophage chemotactic protein-1 and only surface moisture in the cheek were associated with
greater risk of infantile eczema in the first month. The association of atopic dermatitis in infancy with
reduced neonatal macrophage inflammatory protein levels suggests a link with immature immune
responses at birth.
