title: Autoimmune disease comorbidities in patients with atopic dermatitis: a nationwide case-control study in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing dermatitis of unknown etiology. It is thought that abnormal regulation of Th1 and Th2 is not only the major cause of AD, but also the vital pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases. To date, no large-scale studies have been performed on the relationship between AD and autoimmune disease. By conducting a nationwide population-based study with case-controls in Taiwan, we sought to clarify the association of AD with other autoimmune diseases to obtain a better understanding of its pathogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan from 1997 to 2010. In total, 41950 patients with AD and 167800 age- and gender-matched controls were enrolled.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with AD tended to have a high risk of associated lupus erythematosus (LE) (OR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.48-2.54). The risk of LE was higher in female AD patients (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.53-2.76) than in male AD patients (OR: 1.48, 95% CI: 0.76-2.85). Juvenile patients younger than 18 yrs with AD had higher risk of LE (OR: 3.02, 95% CI: 1.30-7.03) than adult patients with AD (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.26-2.24).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirmed the association between AD and LE. Early survey for LE in juvenile patients with AD is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lung-Chi
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chian-Yaw
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Pei-I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Tuan-Chun
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Yen-Da
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Szu-Yin
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Din-Dar
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yun-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Wen-Jen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Han-Nan
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chih-Chiang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044382:Population Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: atopic dermatitis; autoimmune disease; nationwide; systemic lupus erythematosus