Effectiveness of laser therapy in correction of cytokine status and skin barrier function in children with atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of low-intensity laser blood irradiation for the correction of the cytokine profle and violations of the skin barrier function in the complex treatment of children with atopic dermatitis.Material and methods. The study included 65 children with atopic dermatitis (AtD) (mean age 8 ± 2,9 years) and 30 healthy children (control group). The patients were divided into two groups depending on the treatment: group 1 – basic drug therapy (BDT), group 2 – BDT in combination with supravenous laser blood irradiation (NLBI). Blood cytokine status indicators were assessed – levels of interleukins (IL) -4,-10,-13,-18, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), indicators of skin barrier function (skin pH, skin moisture, transepidermal water loss – TEWL) before treatment, after 1 and 3 months from the start of treatment.Results. Basic drug therapy had the least effect on the cytokine profle of the blood of patients and parameters characterizing the barrier function of the skin. The inclusion of NLBI was accompanied by an anti-inflammatory effect, signifcantly enhanced the regulatory effect on blood cytokine activity, signifcantly improved the barrier function parameters studied (skin pH, skin moisture, TEWL) and reduced the frequency of disease relapses.Conclusions. Basic drug therapy did not have a statistically signifcant corrective effect on the parameters of the immune status and skin barrier function in children with AtD. The combined use of NLBI and BDT increases the effciency of correction of the blood cytokine profle and violations of the skin barrier function in children with AtD, leads to a decrease in the frequency of disease relapses, which indicates the advantage of this method compared to monotherapy with basic drugs.