Atopic Dermatitis and Celiac Disease – Are They Connected?
Study reveals a significant association between atopic dermatitis and celiac disease.
- Guy Shalom, Khalaf Kridin, Keren-Or Raviv, Tamar Freud, Doron Comaneshter, Rivka Friedland, Arnon D. Cohen, and Dan Ben-Amitai, American Journal of Clinical Dermatology 1
Background
• Both atopic dermatitis and celiac disease are often accompanied by other immune-mediated disorders.
Objective
• The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential association between atopic dermatitis and celiac disease in a broad community-based population.
Methods
• A cross-sectional observational design was used.
• Demographic and clinical data were collected for patients enrolled in a large health management organization who were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis by a dermatologist in 2002–17.
• The presence of celiac disease/celiac disease-related morbidities was recorded for the whole group, for adults (age > 18 years), and for adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
• Findings were compared with a matched control group without atopic dermatitis.
Results
• The study group included 116,816 patients of whom 45,157 were adults; 1909 adult patients had moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Compared to the respective control subjects
• prevalence rate of celiac disease in the whole group was 0.6% vs. 0.4%;
• in the adults, 0.6% vs. 0.3%;
• in the adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, 0.8% vs. 0.3% (p < 0.001 for all).
• On multivariate analysis, atopic dermatitis was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of celiac disease (odds ratio = 1.609, 95% confidence interval 1.42–1.82, p < 0.001) in the entire study population and each subgroup.
Conclusions
• We observed a significant association between atopic dermatitis and celiac disease.
• This association emphasizes the need for timely screening of gastrointestinal morbidities in individuals with atopic dermatitis to prevent long-term complications.
- Guy Shalom, Khalaf Kridin, Rivka Friedland and Dan Ben-Amitai contributed equally to the article.
Funding
- No funding was received for the conduct of this study or the preparation of this article.
Conflict of interest
- Guy Shalom, Khalaf Kridin, Keren-Or Raviv, Tamar Freud, Doron Comaneshter, Rivka Friedland, Arnon D. Cohen, and Dan Ben-Amitai have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.
Ethical approval
- The present study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and all appropriate amendments. The study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Clalit Health Services.
1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40257-019-00474-2
