Atopic Dermatitis and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Iranian Children

Problem statement: Atopic diseases, including asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis, are characterized by a chronic inflammatory reaction mediated by T helper 2 cells, while type 1 diabetes mellitus is mediated by T helper 1 cells. Approach: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of atopic dermatitis between children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and age-matched controls. We conducted a case-control study enrolling 150 cases with type 1 diabetes mellitus between 2-20 years from pediatric endocrine out patient clinic and 450 controls randomly selected from the general population matched on sex and age. The diagnosis of atopic dermatitis was determined for patients and controls by the Hanifin and Rajka’s diagnostic criteria. Results: From 150 cases, 75 (50%) were male and 75 (50%) were female, with the age between 2 and 20 and among the 450 controls, 228 were male (50. 66%) and 222 were female (49.33%) the age was as the case. Dermatitis past or present, was identified in 1.3% of cases and 3.1% of controls, a difference which was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: In present study, the prevalence of atopic dermatitis was comparable in diabetic children and the controls which may be due to difference between races and geographic areas and lack of support for an inverse relationship between the Th2-mediated atopy and th1-mediated autoimmune disorder. Further studies are needed to show the difference in serum IgE and cytokine profiles between the groups.