Antioxidant nutrient intakes and corresponding biomarkers associated with the risk of atopic dermatitis in young children

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition 2010-03, Vol.64 (3), p.245-252
• Main Authors: Oh, S.Y, Chung, J, Kim, M.K, Kwon, S.O, Cho, B.H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/53; 692/699/249/2510/1415; 692/700/1720; 692/700/459/1994; Allergic diseases; Allergies; alpha-tocopherol; alpha-Tocopherol - administration & dosage; alpha-Tocopherol - blood; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Antioxidants - metabolism; Ascorbic acid; Ascorbic Acid - administration & dosage; Ascorbic Acid - blood; Asthma; Atopic dermatitis; beta Carotene - administration & dosage; beta Carotene - blood; beta-carotene; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Blood; blood chemistry; Carotene; Case-Control Studies; child nutrition; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Clinical Nutrition; Confidence intervals; Demographic aspects; Dermatitis; Dermatitis, Atopic - blood; Dermatitis, Atopic - epidemiology; Dermatitis, Atopic - etiology; Development and progression; diet; Diet - statistics & numerical data; Diet therapy; Eczema; Epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Folic acid; food frequency questionnaires; Food intake; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health aspects; Humans; Immunopathology; Internal Medicine; International studies; iron; Korea - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; nutrient intake; Nutrient status; Nutrients; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Odds Ratio; original-article; Population studies; preschool children; Prevention; Public Health; Risk; risk assessment; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; school children; Skin allergic diseases. Stinging insect allergies; Statistics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tocopherol; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin A; Vitamin A - administration & dosage; Vitamin A - blood; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; vitamin supplements; Vitamins; β-Carotene
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2009.148

Background/Objectives: To investigate the association of antioxidant nutritional status with the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in young children in a case–control, population-based study. Subjects/Methods: Identified from preschools by using the Korean version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Final analysis included 180 AD (mean age 5.3±0.9 years) and 242 non-AD (mean age 5.2±1.0 years) children. Diet was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Fasting blood samples were used for analyses of fat-soluble vitamins (retinol, α-tocopherol, and β-carotene) and vitamin C. Results: AD was associated negatively with intakes of antioxidant-related nutrients. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were 0.44 (0.22–0.88) for the highest (vs lowest) quintile of β-carotene. A similar association was observed for dietary vitamin E (OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.16–0.67), folic acid (OR=0.37, 95% CI=0.18–0.73), and iron (OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.19–0.79). Reduced AD risk was found with 1 s.d. increase of serum α-tocopherol [OR=0.64, 95% CI=0.41–0.98) and retinol (OR=0.74, 95% CI=0.58–0.96) concentrations, and marginally with that of serum β-carotene levels (P=0.0749 for trend). There was no relationship of AD risk with dietary and plasma vitamin C as well as nutrient supplement intake regardless of nutrient type. AD was predicted better by the intake measure than the corresponding blood biomarker regarding vitamin E and β-carotene. Conclusions: These findings suggest that higher antioxidant nutritional status reduces the risk of AD and that such risk-reduction effects depend on nutrient type.