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Seok Yong Kang [1] and Hyo Won Jung [1] and Joo Hyun Nam [2] and Woo Kyung Kim [3] and Jong-Seong Kang [4] and Young-Ho Kim [4] and Cheong-Weon Cho [4] and Chong Woon Cho [4] and Yong-Ki Park [1] and Hyo Sang Bae [5]

Academic Editor: Vincenzo De Feo

1, Department of Herbology, College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 123 Dongdae-ro, Gyeongju 38066, Republic of Korea, dongguk.edu

2, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Dongguk University, Dongdae-ro 123, Gyeongju 38066, Republic of Korea, dongguk.edu

3, Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Dongguk University, Dongguk-ro 27, Ilsan Dong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Republic of Korea, dongguk.edu

4, College of Pharmacy and Institute of Drug Research and Development, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, cnu.ac.kr

5, Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 27 Dongguk-ro, Ilsan Dong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Republic of Korea, dongguk.edu

Received May 29, 2017; Accepted Oct 23, 2017

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic pruritic inflammatory skin disease caused by abnormal skin barrier function and aberrant immune responses along with cutaneous hyperreactivity to environmental triggers [1]. AD has a complex etiology that involves activation of multiple immunological and inflammatory pathways along with disruption of epidermal barriers, elevated IgE levels, peripheral eosinophilia, and a predominance of Th2 cells expressing IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 [2]. The main treatment for AD is skin hydration with emollients and suppression of cutaneous inflammation using topical steroids to reduce the number and severity of flares [1]. However, the use of steroids should be limited to the most severe cases due to their side effects, which include adrenal suppression, osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and striae [3]. Recently, new treatments for AD, such as Th2 antagonists, cytokine antagonists, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, barrier repair therapies, and allergen-directed immunotherapy, have emerged. Although these therapeutic agents have greatly improved patient outcomes, the current treatments for AD are still not ideal and novel therapeutic strategies are required in the search for better drugs with safety and efficacy.

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