Page 7 - Read Online

Bhardwaj. J Transl Genet Genom 2017;1:15-22 Journal of Translational
DOI: 10.20517/jtgg.2017.01
Genetics and Genomics

www.jtggjournal.com
Topic: MicroRNAs in Allergic Diseases Open Access

MicroRNAs in atopic dermatitis: a review

Neeti Bhardwaj

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,
Hershey, PA 17033, USA.

Correspondence to: Dr. Neeti Bhardwaj, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, HS83, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. E-mail: nbhardwaj@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

How to cite this article: Bhardwaj N. MicroRNAs in atopic dermatitis: a review. J Transl Genet Genom 2017;1:15-22.
ABSTRACT
Article history: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory skin disease, generally the
Received: 19 Jul 2017 first clinical manifestation of atopy and the start of atopic march. Effective treatment of AD
First decision: 2 Sep 2017 could potentially interrupt the progression of atopic march. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a recently
Revised: 25 Oct 2017 described class of gene expression regulators in inflammatory conditions, affect expression
Accepted: 7 Nov 2017 of numerous proteins. The role of miRNAs has been investigated in several atopic conditions,
Published: 17 Nov 2017 including asthma, eosinophilic esophagitis, allergic rhinitis as well as atopic dermatitis.
They have been shown to be involved in the morphogenesis of skin. The therapeutic effects
Key words: of inhibition or overexpression of miRNAs have been demonstrated in murine models.
Atopic dermatitis, Considering their role as master switches of complex cellular processes, they could be potential
microRNA, therapeutic targets for inflammatory skin conditions including atopic dermatitis. MiRNAs can
MiR-155, be detected in different cell-free body fluids, such as serum, plasma, urine and saliva, raising
MiR-146a, the obvious question whether they can be used as biomarkers of disease. This review article
MiR-203 summarizes what is known so far abut miRNAs and atopic dermatitis.

INTRODUCTION understanding of the pathogenesis of this condition
could provide tools for early intervention. The
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing pathogenesis of AD is complex, involving genetic
inflammatory skin disease. It is generally the first predisposition with a strong influence of innate and
clinical manifestation of atopy and the start of atopic adaptive immune responses, as well as environmental
[5]
march [1,2] . Atopic march refers to the phenomenon factors . Interplay between genetic and environmental
of progression of atopic dermatitis to asthma and factors leading to skin barrier dysfunction drives the
[5]
allergic rhinitis [3,4] . The defective skin barrier in patients natural history of the disease . Specifically, Th2 and
with AD might allow allergen exposure through the Th22 pathways, along with inflammatory cytokines
[6]
epidermis initiating systemic allergen sensitization and mediators are implicated .
[4]
leading to development of food allergy and asthma .
Therefore, effective treatment of AD could potentially Inflammation in atopic dermatitis is biphasic: an initial
interrupt the progression of atopic march. A deeper Th2 phase precedes a chronic phase in which Th0

Quick Response Code:
This is an open access article licensed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the
identical terms.
For reprints contact: service@oaepublish.com

www.oaepublish.com © The author(s) 2017 15