Atopy patch test reactions to Malassezia allergens differentiate subgroups of atopic dermatitis patients.Johansson, C.; Sandström, M.H.; Bartosik, Jacek; Särnhult, T.; Christiansen, J; Zargari, A.; Bäck, Ove; Wahlgren, C.F.; Faergemann, J.; Scheynius, A.; Tengvall Linder, M. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Johansson, C., Sandström, M. H., Bartosik, J., Särnhult, T., Christiansen, J., Zargari, A., ... Tengvall Linder, M. (2003). Atopy patch test reactions to Malassezia allergens differentiate subgroups of atopic dermatitis patients. British Journal of Dermatology, 148(3), 479-488. DOI: 10.1046479-488. DOI: 10. /j.1365479-488. DOI: 10. -2133479-488. DOI: 10. .2003 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Clinical and Laboratory InvestigationsAtopy patch test reactions to Malassezia allergens differentiate subgroups of atopic dermatitis patients SummaryBackground The yeast Malassezia is considered to be one of the factors that can contribute to atopic dermatitis (AD).Objectives To investigate the reactivity to Malassezia allergens, measured as specific serum IgE, positive skin prick test and positive atopy patch test (APT), in adult patients with AD. Methods In total, 132 adult patients with AD, 14 with seborrhoeic dermatitis (SD) and 33 healthy controls were investigated for their reactions to M. sympodialis extract and three recombinant Malassezia allergens (rMal s 1, rMal s 5 and rMal s 6).Results Sixty-seven per cent of the AD patients, but only one of the SD patients and none of the healthy controls, showed a positive reaction to at least one of the Malassezia allergens (extract and ⁄ or recombinant allergens) in at least one of the tests. The levels of M. sympodialis-specific IgE in serum correlated with the total serum IgE levels. Elevated serum levels of M. sympodialis-specific IgE were found in 55% and positive APT reactions in 41% of the AD patients with head and neck dermatitis. A relatively high proportion of patients without head and neck dermatitis and patients with low total serum IgE levels had a positive APT for M. sympodialis, despite lower proportions of individuals with M. sympodialis-specific IgE among these groups of patients.Conclusions These results support that Malassezia can play a role in eliciting and maintaining eczema in patients with AD. The addition of an APT to the test battery used in this study reveals a previously overlooked impact of Malassezia hypersensitivity in certain subgroups of AD patie...

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Aims: The present study investigates whether loneliness and social isolation are associated with poor physical and mental health among adolescents and young adults, and whether age and gender play a role in the associations of loneliness and social isolation with mental and physical health. Methods: This study used cross-sectional self-report data from the 2017 Danish Health and Morbidity Surveys titled ‘How are you?’ ( N = 19,890, M = 22.6 years). Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that loneliness and social isolation were independently associated with poor physical and mental health. Loneliness was associated with increased odds of asthma, migraine, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, slipped disc/back pain, tinnitus, long-term mental illness, depressive symptomatology, anxiety symptomatology and alcohol problems. Social isolation was associated with decreased odds of having migraine, osteoarthritis and alcohol problems, and an increased risk of long-term mental illness and depressive symptomatology. Small age and gender differences were detected. Conclusions: In adolescents and young adults, loneliness and social isolation were associated with poor mental health and loneliness with poor physical health. These findings highlight the need for targeted prevention and intervention initiatives to alleviate loneliness and social isolation.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Environmental and genetic factors, as well as microbial products from yeasts and bacteria, play a role in triggering the disease. A cohort of 619 adult patients with AD was screened for severity of AD, sensitization to Malassezia sympodialis, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-18 were measured. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization to the combination of both yeast and mite antigens was found to be associated with more severe disease and higher levels of total IgE. AD patients with IgE sensitization to several microbial antigens had more severe disease than those with no IgE sensitization to microbial antigens. Sera from patients with IgE-associated AD showed higher levels of IL-18. Skin-associated microorganisms are exogenous factors triggering IgE-response and severity of AD. These findings are clinically important, and sensitization to these organisms should be assessed and considered in treatment strategies.