title: Changes in serum lactate dehydrogenase activity in children with atopic dermatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years an increase has been seen in the number of patients with severe atopic dermatitis (AD) accompanied with generalized typical eruptions. Some markers indicating the severity of the disease and symptom changes are very useful, and therefore the purpose of the present study was to investigate serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as such a marker.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 58 children with AD were enrolled. The severity of the disease was graded on the basis of the extent of eruptions and the severity of atopic symptoms. The fraction of serum LDH, number of eosinocytes in the peripheral blood, and serum IgE levels were also determined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a close correlation between the severity of cutaneous symptoms and serum LDH activity, and between severity and eosinocyte count, but no relationship was seen between serum IgE levels and severity of the disease. The aforementioned factors were determined in a time-related way. As the patients' condition improved, serum LDH activity tended to decline, but there were no consistent changes in eosinocyte count in the peripheral blood or serum IgE level. On LDH isozyme the levels of LDH4 and LDH5 were high. Tissue showed high LDH activity, especially in epidermides. These results suggest that serum LDH activity is a useful marker.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morishima
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Kouji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takekuma
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoshika
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase