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Atopic Dermatitis May Increase Risk of Developing IBD
Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) are at an increased risk of developing new-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a recent study published in JAMA Dermatology found. This risk of developing IBD, the investigators added, worsens with increased AD severity.
“Adults with AD have a 34% increased risk of developing new-onset IBD compared with individuals who do not have the skin condition, and children have a 44% increased risk,” the investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania said.
The team sourced information on 409,431 children and 625,083 adults with AD from the Health Improvement Network, a UK electronic medical record database between 1994 and 2015 for this population-based cohort study. The patients were then matched with up to 5 healthy controls each based on age, practice, and index date.
In the pediatric cohort, the risk of developing IBD increased with severity of AD. With mild AD, the risk increased by 36%; with moderate AD, the risk increased by 48%; and with severe AD, the risk increased 2.6 times.
Regardless of age, the risk for developing Crohn's disease (CD) increased 5 times with AD. The study revealed an increased risk of ulcerative colitis (UC), as well; however, the increase wasn’t significant.
Adults with severe AD were at a 127% increased risk for IBD (HR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.96-2.64). More specifically, they were at a 250% increased risk for CD (HR, 3.50; 95% CI, 2.91-4.20), and a 140% increased risk for UC (HR, 2.40; 95% CI, 2.00-2.88).
"Investigating the relationship between skin and other diseases doesn't just offer new insight into how these diseases can affect a patient with both, but these studies are especially powerful because they also highlight unique characteristics of each disease and how they behave individually,” the authors concluded.
Reference:
Fuxench ZC, Wan J, Wang S et al. Risk of inflammatory bowel disease in patients with atopic dermatitis. JAMA Dermatol. 2023;159(10):1085–1092. DOI: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2023.2875
