association of stress with symptom of AD.pdf

Acta Derm Venereol 90 INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Acta Derm Venereol 2010; 90: 582–588 ? 2010 The Authors. doi: 10.23400933 Journal Compilation ? 2010 Acta Dermato-Venereologica. ISSN 0001-5555 Psychological stress and atopic dermatitis (AD) symp- toms appear to form a vicious cycle. This study compared the degree of stress and impairment of dermatology life quality between patients with AD and healthy controls, and examined for neuropeptides and neurotrophins asso- ciated with stress in AD. Questionnaires, comprising five tests evaluating depression, anxiety, interaction anxious- ness, private body consciousness, and dermatology life quality, were examined in age- and sex-matched patients with AD (n = 28) and healthy controls (n = 28). Immuno- histochemical staining of nerve growth factor, substance P, corticotrophin-releasing factor receptor and neuro- peptide Y was performed in the AD-involved and normal skin. Patients with AD showed high scores on all of the questionnaires, including Beck Depression Inventory, state anxiety, trait anxiety, Interaction Anxiousness Scale, Private Body Consciousness subscale, and Dermatology Life Quality Index. All of the parameters, except for Beck Depression Inventory, showed higher values in AD than healthy controls (p 0.001). Statistically significant cor- relations were observed between each psychological pa- rameter and Dermatology Life Quality Index. Among the clinical parameters, only pruritus was positively correla- ted with state anxiety (R = 0.573, p 0.05) and trait anxiety (R = 0.525, p 0.05). The Eczema Area and Severity Index score did not show any significant correlations with psy- chological parameters. Nerve growth factor-reactive cells were observed more abundantly and intensely in both epidermis and dermis of AD involved skin (n = 4) than in healthy controls (n = 3) (p = 0.022 and 0.029, respectively). Also, the number and intensity of neuropeptide Y-positive cells was significantly gr