The current issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology focuses on atopic dermatitis and itch. It is a timely topic as most of the USA is dealing with very cold weather and dry conditions, and itching is a challenging clinical problem.
The CME Review on the mechanism of itch by Gil Yosipovitch, MD and colleagues discusses some of the basic mechanisms involving both neuronal and cytokine pathways. They also explore novel therapies that can treat itch. Don’t forget to claim your CME credit after reading the article and answering the questions.
Peter Olah, PhD and colleagues discuss the key itch cytokine, IL31 and its overlap with the neuronal pathways reviewed in the CME article. Mrinmoy Das, PhD and Raif Geha, MD review the novel role of basophils in atopic dermatitis and the important role they play in allergic sensitization and the atopic march. The accompanying editorial by Francesca Levi-Schaffer, PharmD, PhD and Donald Y.M. Leung, MD, PhD provides a brief but detailed summary of the understanding of itch. The marginal zone provides a light-hearted view of this complex and challenging problem.
This Annals issue also has key updates on asthma. Mina Khezerian, PharmD, PhD and colleagues examined the Optum database and found, unfortunately, that most patients only transiently improve their compliance with inhaled corticosteroids after exacerbations, indicating alternative approaches might be needed to help with asthma care. Amir Ghabousian, MD and colleagues noted that clinical studies of asthma often rely only on parental or patient report, which is different from clinical care. They thus explored how adding bronchodilator response to parental report for the definition of asthma affected incidence and disease severity for clinical studies. The accompanying editorial by Meera R. Gupta, MD and Theresa A. Bingemann, MD provides some insight into the challenges in classifying and diagnosing asthma in children.
In addition, there are articles in the February issue for allergist-immunologists with other interests, including medication allergy and inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Emily Campbell, MD and fellow investigators discuss the key findings from the use of a genetic test for activated phosphoinositide-3-kinase delta syndrome (APDS) and the various associated clinical features. The results of a survey of College membership on IEI included in this month’s issue found the desire for additional training and support for helping diagnose and treat patients with IEI.
As you read this issue of Annals, we hope you are staying warm. As always, if you have any comments, please consider sending correspondence to Annals (email us at annals@ACAAI.org). We are always excited to hear how Annals has helped you improve the lives of your patients!
Jonathan Spergel, MD, PHD, FACAAI
Deputy Editor
