Predicting Role of Interleukin-33 in Determining the Development and Severity of Atopic Dermatitis.

INTRODUCTION

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also referred to as atopic eczema, is one of the most common immunological disorders in children. Previous studies have suggested potential roles of interleukin-33 (IL-33) in the onset and progression of AD. This study investigated whether serum IL-33 levels in children with AD are associated with disease severity, immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization to food or environmental allergens, and serum IgE concentration.

METHODS

The study included 62 children with newly diagnosed AD and 30 age-matched healthy controls. Following an interview and confirmation of disease severity, 3mL of venous blood was collected from each participant. Sensitization to allergens was assessed using a skin prick test. Serum IL-33 (ng/L) and IgE (IU/mL) levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Among the 62 children with AD, 51 (82.3%) were sensitized to food allergens, whereas 11 (17.7%) were sensitized to environmental allergens. Most patients (75.8%) had mild AD. Serum IL-33 and IgE levels were significantly elevated in patients compared with healthy controls. Both IL-33 and IgE concentrations were significantly associated with moderate AD. However, IL-33 levels were not correlated with age, gender, or allergen type. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that IgE levels demonstrated moderate diagnostic performance for AD (AUCc0.758), while IL-33 showed weaker diagnostic value (AUC = 0.678). For predicting disease severity, IL-33 exhibited strong performance, with the highest sensitivity (85.71%) and maximum specificity (70.21%) at a cut-off of 331.32 ng/L (AUC = 0.862). In contrast, IgE was not a reliable predictor of AD severity.

CONCLUSION

Serum IL-33 levels are significantly correlated with AD severity and may serve as a predictive biomarker, whereas IgE shows limited utility for severity assessment. Further studies are warranted to validate the clinical applicability of IL-33 in AD management.