Biomarkers in Allergic Eczema

Eczema is a heterogeneous inflammatory skin disease that causes dry skin, scaly patches, blisters, and inflammation. Allergic eczema is an itchy skin rash that develops when the skin comes in contact with an allergen. These reactions may occur immediately, or there may be a delay. The best treatment for allergic eczema is avoidance, however this is very difficult as the skin encounters many allergens on a regular basis. Allergic eczema poses a therapeutic challenge as different endotypes exist among patients and every patient does not respond equally to a particular treatment. Development of allergic eczema biomarkers will allow better characterization and stratification of the patient and allow better comparison of current and new treatments. Furthermore, this will enhance personalized approach for characterization and treatment of different endotypes that exist in eczema.

Biomarkers are valuable tools as they provide information on the diseases endotypes, identification of therapeutic targets, monitoring of diseases progression, and studies the effectiveness of a treatment. The ultimate goal of this section is to identify clinically useful biomarkers that are cost-efficient and involves non-invasive methods. These biomarkers can be a useful tool to predict allergic eczema progression and to better design treatment modalities for different groups of patients.

In this Research Topic, we will be addressing these specific themes in order to further elucidate these concerns:
1. Different endotypes in allergic eczema.
2. Types of biomarkers (for screening, diagnostic and prognostic purposes).
3. Current treatment of allergic eczema.
4. Role of biomarkers in the characterization of allergic eczema patients.
5. Immunological mechanisms associated with allergic eczema.
6. Use of Biomarkers in diagnosis and monitoring the disease.

All article types accepted by Frontiers are encouraged.