Immune Response to Staphylococcus aureus in Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

The skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) is severely colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess some basic features of the S.aureus-specific immune response in patients with AD and healthy nonatopic individuals. Some particular features were found: (1) a selective hyporesponsiveness to purified S.aureus cell walls (PCW) in delayed skin reactivity; (2) half of our AD patients showed serum IgE to PCW and soluble S.aureus protoplast antigens; (3) elevated PCW-IgE did not correlate with positive immediate skin reactions to whole S.aureus and their cell walls; (4) regional lymphadenopathy but not impetiginization was associated with increased PCW-IgE and high total IgE. It is suggested that these changes in the immune response to S. aureus are related to the chronic S.aureus colonization of the skin.