The Effect of Nutrition and Micronutrients on Children with Atopic Dermatitis

Objective: One of the most frequently investigated epigenetic factors in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD) is food. There are different views on the effects of micronutrients on AD development and disease severity. In our study, we aimed to determine the feeding style and micronutrient levels and to investigate their relationship with AD clinical scores in infants with AD.Materials and Methods: We determined the serum vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, and iron levels of infants with AD at the time of presentation to our pediatric allergy clinic. We recorded the feeding types and AD clinical scores of the infants. The relationship between micronutrient levels, nutrition type, and clinical scores of the patients was evaluated.Results: A total of 63 patients, 34 (54%) male, with a median age of 6 (min-max: 2-21) months were included in the study. Breastfeeding (82.5%) was the most preferred feeding method. We did not detect any difference in terms of micronutrient levels between the feeding types. Micronutrients other than vitamin D and zinc were not correlated with disease severity. Moreover, low vitamin D levels were common despite the group receiving prophylaxis.Conclusion: Prevention of vitamin D and zinc deficiencies in patients diagnosed with AD may be beneficial in reducing the severity of the disease. It may be useful to investigate whether low vitamin D in patients with AD is a cause or a result.