A RECENT observational multicentre study has shed new light on the debated connection between atopic dermatitis (AD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). While previous findings have been mixed, this investigation aimed to clarify the association and identify potential biomarkers linked to CVD risk in AD patients.
The study included 677 individuals with AD and 79 nonatopic controls. Researchers assessed the severity of AD, presence of atopic and cardiovascular comorbidities, and related risk factors. Using targeted proteomics to analyse serum samples, they explored the expression of cardiometabolic proteins.
Overall, no direct link between AD and CVD was found across the general cohort; however, a notable finding emerged when distinguishing between patients with pure AD and those with additional atopic conditions (such as asthma or hay fever). Pure AD patients had a significantly higher prevalence of CVD compared to those with atopic comorbidities (28.2% versus 14.7%). Yet, this association lost significance when cardiovascular risk factors were taken into account.
Interestingly, among the pure AD group, those with CVD had more severe eczema than those without. The severity of eczema, as measured by the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), remained a significant predictor of CVD even after adjusting for risk factors. This suggests that disease severity could be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in pure AD patients.
Additionally, the study identified elevated levels of 40 cardiometabolic proteins in AD patients compared with nonatopic controls. Notably, the protein CCL18 was found to be significantly increased in both AD and CVD patients and showed a correlation with AD severity, indicating its potential as a biomarker for cardiovascular risk.
In conclusion, while AD is not universally linked to CVD, disease severity in pure AD may play a critical role, and CCL18 could serve as a valuable indicator of increased cardiovascular risk.
Reference
Fehr D et al. Deciphering the connection between atopic dermatitis and cardiovascular diseases: analysis of clinical associations and cardiometabolic proteins. Allergy. 2025;DOI:10.1111/all.16588.
