Filaggrin mutations up risk of irritant contact dermatitis

(HealthDay)—Both atopic dermatitis (AD) and loss-of-function mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) are independently associated with an increased risk of developing chronic irritant contact dermatitis (ICD), with people having both mutations at about a five-fold higher risk, according to research published online Oct. 5 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Noting that loss-of-function mutations in FLG increase the risk for AD, Maaike J. Visser, M.D., of the Coronel Institute for Occupational Health in Amsterdam, and colleagues conducted a study involving 634 subjects with chronic ICD and 393 controls to investigate the relative contribution and interaction of FLG mutations and AD in ICD.

The researchers found that 15.9 percent of ICD patients and 8.3 percent of control patients had an FLG mutation, with a crude odds ratio of 2.09 for the combined carrier allele. After correcting for AD, the adjusted odds ratio for FLG mutations was 1.62, and individuals with AD had an odds ratio of 2.89 for developing ICD. Concomitant presence of both AD and FLG mutations resulted in a 4.7-fold increased risk of ICD.

"In summary, our results indicate that both FLG loss-of-function mutations and AD significantly increase the risk for ICD, with respective odds ratios of 1.61 and 2.89," the authors write. "Individuals with both FLG mutations and AD have an approximately four- to five-fold increased risk to develop ICD."