Gene for Sex Hormone Synthesis May Play Key Role in Eczema
From scitechdaily.com
2021-10-03 20:57:38
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Excerpt:
A study led by UT Southwestern dermatologists suggests that a common inflammatory skin condition may stem from poorly regulated sex hormones. The finding, published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could offer an unexpected new target to fight this condition.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a form of eczema. AD affects up to 13% of children and 10% of adults, with an annual treatment cost of $5.3 billion in the U.S. alone.
“We often think of eczema as a dry-skin condition and treat mild cases with moisturizers,” said corresponding author Tamia Harris-Tryon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at UTSW. “Here, we’re showing that a gene that’s important for making sex hormones seems to play a role in the skin making its own moisturizers. If we could alter this gene’s activity,…