Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic or chronically-relapsing skin disorder characterized by the infiltration of T cells, eosinophils, mast cells and macrophages in lesional skin [1,2]. Enhanced serum IgE levels, specific IgE environmental allergens such as house dust mites, and blood eosinophilia are also present in the majority of AD patients. It has been proposed that Th2-type cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of AD because of the increased expression of Th2-related cytokines, such as IL-4 and IL-5, in lesional skin [3] and the high responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to IL-4, but not IL-2 [4]. Previously, it was shown that serum soluble (s) E-selectin and serum sIL-2 receptor (R) significantly correlate with the disease activity of AD [5][6][7].Macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), newly termed CCL22 [8], is a CC chemokine that potently serves as a chemoattractant for monocytes, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) and natural killer (NK) cells [9]. MDC is a ligand for CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) [10], and is chemotactic for a fraction of CD4 + CD45RO + T cells polarized to produce Th2-type cytokines [11]. We have previously shown that in NC/Nga mice, a mouse model for human AD, dermal DCs are immunoreactive for MDC, and that the immunoreactivity of dermal DCs for MDC was abolished by topical corticosteroid treatment [12]. This indicates that the DC is a main source of MDC in lesional skin of AD. Very recently, we reported that levels of thymus and activationregulated chemokine (TARC), another ligand for CCR4, in AD sera significantly correlate with disease activity [13]. Moreover, it is reported that serum MDC levels in AD patients are higher than those in healthy controls [14], although the precise involvement of the high levels of MDC in AD has not yet been fully identified.We measured serum MDC levels in a large number of patients with AD, and compared them with levels in psoriasis vulgaris patients and healthy controls. We also examined the correlation between serum MDC levels, disease severity and the change in serum MDC levels in AD patients, before and after treatment. In addition, we compared serum MDC levels with laboratory data for AD disease markers such as serum soluble (s)
SUMMARYAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory skin disease characterized by the predominant infiltration of T cells, eosinophils and macrophages in lesional skin. Recently, macrophagederived chemokine (MDC)/CCL22, a CC chemokine, was identified as a selective chemoattractant for CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4)-expressing cells, in addition to thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC). We have previously reported that serum TARC levels correlate with the severity of AD. In this report, we investigated the participation of MDC in AD. First, we measured serum MDC levels in 45 patients with AD, 25 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 25 healthy controls. Serum MDC levels in AD patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls and psoriasis patients. Furt...