Atopic dermatitis and alcohol use – a meta‐analysis and systematic review

Abstract

While several maternal exposures have been associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in offspring, the effect of alcohol use during pregnancy on the risk of AD in offspring is unclear. Furthermore, it is unclear whether adults with AD have an increased alcohol use, although other poor health behaviours have been associated with AD including smoking and physical inactivity as well as psychiatric disease. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the association between alcohol use and AD was investigated in two ways: 1) whether alcohol use (drinkers versus abstainers) during pregnancy is associated with AD in offspring and 2) whether AD is associated with increased alcohol use. The medical databases PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched, and data extraction was carried out by two independent reviewers. Eighteen studies were included in the qualitative analysis (comparing alcohol drinkers to abstainers), and 12 studies were included in the quantitative analysis. There was a positive association between alcohol use during pregnancy and development of AD in offspring (pooled odds ratio [OR] 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.24). However, there was no consistent association between AD in adults and adolescents and alcohol use (pooled OR 1.06; 95% CI 0.92-1.23). There is a need for future well-designed prospective studies to firmly establish the association between alcohol use and AD.

Exploring the association between parental psychiatric disease and childhood atopic dermatitis: a matched case–control study

“…There were significant associations between maternal history of alcohol abuse or illicit drug use and AD development in her offspring that remained significant in adjusted analyses, but only when using general population controls. Alcohol use during pregnancy has been weakly associated with AD development in her offspring—thought to be secondary to propagation of Th2 skew into the peri‐ and postnatal period . While the marker used for alcohol abuse in this study was not limited to alcohol use during pregnancy, it has been shown that chronic alcohol use also drives Th2‐skewed immune responses and may in part explain the association found here .…”

“…Alcohol use during pregnancy has been weakly associated with AD development in her offspring-thought to be secondary to propagation of Th2 skew into the peri-and postnatal period. 58 While the marker used for alcohol abuse in this study was not limited to alcohol use during pregnancy, it has been shown that chronic alcohol use also drives Th2-skewed immune responses and may in part explain the association found here. 59,60 The marker for illicit drug use in this study captured both psychoactive drug use, such as cocaine or marijuana use, but also opioid addition and methadone replacement therapy.…”

Atopic eczema and major cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies

“…Zhang et al 14 found an increased prevalence of obesity in North America and Asia, whereas smoking, 42 depression, anxiety, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension have all been associated with atopic eczema. Meta-analyses have not shown evidence for increased alcohol use 43 or type 2 diabetes 16 . Other atopic diseases, such as asthma, have also been linked to increased cardiovascular outcomes 44 .…”

Investigating causal relationships between Body Mass Index and risk of atopic dermatitis: a Mendelian randomization analysis

“…(Supplementary Tables S6, S7). Potential confounders considered for the BMI SNPs included education, behavioural factors such as tobacco smoking, alcohol ingestion and physical activity, psychiatric diseases and psychological well-being (anxiety, depression) [48][49][50][51][52] . Potential confounders considered for the AD SNPs included education, alcohol ingestion psychiatric diseases and psychological well-being (anxiety, depression) [48][49][50][51][52] .…”