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To determine whether serum IgE levels in patients with atopic dermatitis bear a relationship to the severity and course of the dermatitis, serum levels were measured over several months in 24 patients. Excluded were patients with concurrent rhinitis or asthma, or those receiving therapy thyposensitization, systemic corticosteroids) which might have affected serum levels. A clinical profile was developed to gauge the severity and extent of the dermatitis during the course of the study. The results show that many patients with atopic dermatitis have normal serum IgE levels. No significant fluctuation of serum IgE levels in individual patients was noted during the course of the study even though the dermatitis varied in severity. However, there was a positive relationship of significance (p < .05) between overall severity of the dermatitis and elevated serum levels ot this immunoglobulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, IgM) determinations by the single radial immunodiffusion technique were done in patients with various skin diseases. The geometric means of the IgG, IgA and IgM concentrations of each of the patient groups were compared with those of a control group comprising 156 individuals. A significantly raised IgG level was found only in patients with pemphigus; in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, other eczemas, and psoriasis vulgaris the IgG level was significantly lowered. The IgA level was significantly elevated in patients with discoid lupus erythematosus and (bullous) pemphigoid, and the IgM level was significantly depressed in patients with atopic dermatitis. IgE determinations, done with the Ouchterlony technique in a selected group of patients, showed raised levels in some patients with malignant reticulosis and other eczemas but not in those with atopic dermatitis. Comparison of the results of the serum immunoglobulin determinations with the immunoglobulin synthesis of lesional skin showed no correlation between the local synthesis of immunoglobulins in the skin and changes in the serum levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our data confirm the finding that the granular cell layer is markedly decreased in thickness in ichthyosis vulgaris. The granular layer cannot be used as an index of dry skin in the atopic state because no significant differences in granular cell layer thickness were present in skin specimens from atopic patients with normal skin or dry skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]