Food induced skin diseases.

Skin diseases due to an adverse reaction to food are urticaria, atopic dermatitis, oral allergy syndrome, dermatitis herpetiformis and protein induced contact dermatitis. The first three disorders will be discussed in more detail. Urticaria per se is a common skin reaction associated with various external and internal factors. Food as a causative factor is more frequently associated with acute than with chronic urticaria. The relation between food and atopic dermatitis is evident in young children with atopic dermatitis. The course of atopic dermatitis in adults is hardly influenced by food. The mechanism involved in urticaria may be immune-mediated, being IgE-mediated, or non-immune mediated, being pharmacologic or unknown. The mechanism involved in food-induced atopic dermatitis is based on the involvement of IgE antibodies and T lymphocytes. So far, it not known if and how (free or complexed with antibodies) food allergens enter the skin. It has been speculated that cutaneous T cell homing factors are involved.