Jianyun Lu
Central South University, China
Title: Topical ozone therapies improve atopic dermatitis via rapidly reducing S. aureus colonization and immunoregulation
Biography
Biography: Jianyun Lu
Abstract
Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) colonization as well as an imbalanced immune response. Current research shows that topical ozone therapy is an effective and alternative treatment in the management of multiple skin diseases, including AD. However, the mechanism for the ozone is
not clearly understood.
Methods: Patients between 6–65 years old diagnosed with moderate or severe AD were treated topically with ozone. The treatment scheme is topical application of ozonated water followed by ozonated oil, twice daily, for two weeks. The Severity Scoring for AD (SCORAD) index, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pruritus and sleep scores were evaluated. The thickness of epidermal layer was detected by Reflectance Confocal Microscopy (RCM) and the expression of Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg type cytokines in peripheral blood was tested by ELISA. Plate cultivation was used to quantitatively detect numbers of S. aureus colonizations in skin lesions.
Results: Twelve patients in the present study showed significant improvement in the eczematous skin lesions, with better keratinization of the stratum corneum, clearer basal layer structure and reduced infiltration. of inflammatory cells SCORAD, VAS pruritus and sleep scores were all significantly decreased (p<0.01). The ozone decreased the numbers of S. aureus colonization in skin lesions after treatment (90.74±0.14) % (P< 0.01). By using ELISA, we detected several cytokines concentrations in the serum in the patients. It was found that IL-17A expression was significantly decreased after treatment with ozone (p<0.01). On the other hand, although ozone increased the level of suppressive cytokine, IL-10, and decreased the level of pruritus related cytokine, IL-31, no significances were found (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The treatment by using topical ozone alone significantly improves eczematous lesions in patients with AD. The mechanisms involved might be related to rapid reduction of S. aureus colonization and decreasing IL-17A expression. Our findings suggest that topical ozone therapy may be a potential remedy for AD.