title: Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Acute and Chronic Skin Lesions of Patients with Atopic Dermatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Staphylococcus aureus (SA) has peculiar abilities to colonize the skin in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine the colonization rates of SA in acute and chronic skin lesions of AD patients, to find any difference in colonization rates according to age and to find the influences of total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and eosinophil counts to the colonization of SA.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the total IgE level and eosinophil counts, and cultured SA from the skin lesions of 687 AD patients (131 acute and 556 chronic skin lesions) and 247 control urticaria patients (July 2009 to November 2010; Samsung Medical Center Dermatology Clinic, Seoul, Korea).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SA colonization rates were 74%, 38% and 3% in acute, chronic skin lesions and control skin, respectively, and they were increased with age in AD patients. The colonization rate in chronic skin lesions was higher in the high IgE/eosinophilia groups as compared to the normal IgE/eosinophil groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SA colonization rate was higher in AD patients and especially in acute lesions, and had a tendency to increase with age. As the colonization rates were only higher in the high IgE/eosinophilia groups of chronic skin lesions, we suggested that SA may invade the skin through barrier defects in acute skin lesions, but the colonization in chronic lesions may be orchestrated through many different factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hae-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Cho-Rok
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ik-Soo
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dermatological Science, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Youn
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Mo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Colonization rate; Eosinophil counts; Serum total IgE; Staphylococcus aureus