Dear Colleagues,

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by inflammatory, chronically relapsing, and pruritic eczematous flares. With an increasing prevalence in recent decades, atopic dermatitis has become a global health issue. Due to the unpredictable disease course, its visible skin lesions, itching, and scratching followed by sleeplessness, other associated atopic diseases, and behavioral and psychiatric disorders, AD is an immense burden for patients and caregivers. It is almost always associated with IgE sensitization to airborne, food-derived, microbial allergens, and aeroallergens; however, non-IgE-mediated pathomechanisms also seem to be operative in atopic dermatitis, and it is often difficult to identify the disease-causing allergens. Molecular allergy diagnosis using single-plex allergens or multiplex allergen microarrays are typical methods of precision medicine. There is growing evidence that the use of molecular allergy diagnosis in combination with conventional sensitization testing improves analytical and diagnostic performance.

Atopic diseases appear to have a natural progression, with atopic dermatitis being the first to manifest, generally in infancy or childhood, followed by other atopic diseases, such as food allergy, allergic rhinitis, or allergic asthma. This natural progression of atopic diseases is termed the “Allergic March” or “Atopic March.” The presence of IgE antibodies, proinflammatory Th2-type cytokines, and the natural progression observed with atopic diseases has led some researchers to suggest that they are all different manifestations of the same disease.

Atopic dermatitis and food allergy have increased in prevalence in industrialized countries in recent decades and pose a significant health burden. Cow's milk, hen's egg, peanut, soy, wheat, fish, tree nuts, and shellfish are the most common food allergens.

Imbalance in the composition of skin microbiota facilitates the emergence and course of many skin diseases. In patients suffering from atopic dermatitis, this balance is disturbed mainly by the colonization of Staphylococcus aureus strains, which have a strong pro-inflammatory potential and are involved in the exacerbation of atopic dermatitis. The degree of colonization is correlated with the severity of the disease.

Articles explaining the pathophysiology and epidemiology of atopic dermatitis, as well as potential challenges facing its successful treatment, and articles dealing with the treatment of atopic dermatitis (emollients, topical corticosteroids, and topical calcineurin inhibitors; Janus kinase inhibitors; and biological treatment), are encouraged.

This Special Issue regarding the topic “Atopic dermatitis” shall serve as a comprehensive overview of currently available knowledge on atopic dermatitis.

Dear Authors, thank you very much for your contributions to these topics.

Dr. Jarmila Čelakovská
Guest Editor

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• atopic dermatitis
• food allergy
• therapy
• epidemiology
• pathophysiology