Challenging a paradigm: skin sensitivity to sodium lauryl sulfate is independent of atopic diathesis

Heetfeld AB, Schill T, Schroeder SS, Forkel S, Mahler V, Pfuetzner W, Schoen MP, Geier J, Buhl T (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

British Journal of Dermatology Wiley-Blackwell

DOI: 10.1111/bjd.18564

Abstract

Background Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is the best-studied detergent in irritant contact dermatitis. In atopic dermatitis, the two major pathophysiological abnormalities concern skin barrier function and regulation of cutaneous immune responses. The probability of atopic skin diathesis can be assessed by comprehensive analysis of patient history, as well as clinical and laboratory findings, resulting in the Erlangen Atopy Score (EAS). Objectives To investigate the impacts of (i) atopic skin diathesis according to the EAS and (ii) the physician-assessed diagnoses 'atopic dermatitis', 'allergic rhinitis' and 'allergic asthma' on SLS skin reactions. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of data from 2030 consecutive patients patch tested with SLS (0 center dot 25% aqueous) from two tertiary referral centres in Germany, from 2008 to 2014. Results Patients with a high probability of atopic skin diathesis showed no significant increase in positive SLS reactions compared with patients without atopic skin diathesis (14 center dot 2% vs. 16 center dot 8%). The grading of positive SLS skin reactions (1-4) revealed no differences in patients with or without atopic skin diathesis. Furthermore, diagnoses of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis or allergic asthma had no impact on positive SLS skin reactions in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusions We found no association of increased skin irritability to SLS with atopic skin diathesis, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis or allergic asthma in a large patient cohort. It therefore seems that the test of skin irritability with SLS, which is currently common practice in many centres, does not allow prediction of susceptibility to irritant eczematous inflammation in atopic vs. nonatopic individuals. What's already known about this topic?

Authors with CRIS profile

Vera Mahler Medizinische Fakultät

Additional Organisation(s)

Department of Dermatology

Involved external institutions

Universitätsklinikum Göttingen DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg (UKGM) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Heetfeld, A.B., Schill, T., Schroeder, S.S., Forkel, S., Mahler, V., Pfuetzner, W.,... Buhl, T. (2019). Challenging a paradigm: skin sensitivity to sodium lauryl sulfate is independent of atopic diathesis. British Journal of Dermatology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.18564

MLA:

Heetfeld, A. B., et al. "Challenging a paradigm: skin sensitivity to sodium lauryl sulfate is independent of atopic diathesis." British Journal of Dermatology (2019).

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