Molecular and Cellular Characterization of Spongiotic Dermatitis (Spongiotic)

Spongiotic dermatitis is the histopathologic diagnosis commonly issued by dermatopathologists that encompasses atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and other forms of eczematous dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disease characterized by pruritic, scaly, red, eczematous skin lesions, and a personal or family history of atopy. Patients affected by atopic dermatitis experience significant morbidity from extreme pruritus, recurrent cutaneous infections, and extensive and/or disfiguring skin lesions. Allergic contact dermatitis typically manifests as pruritus and vesicular or eczematous lesions associated with direct exposure to environmental haptenic allergens. The specific aims of this research are: 1. Identification of genes differentially expressed in atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and psoriasis by microarray analyses. 2. Confirmation of protein expression profiles in atopic and contact dermatitis, and psoriasis by immunohistochemical analyses. 3. Identification of disease-specific potential diagnostic markers in plasma and PBMC. The information obtained will assist in development of diagnostic methods for differentiation of the types of spongiotic dermatitis. This study also has the potential to lead to the dissection of pathologic pathways involved in these diseases and development of novel therapeutic agents.