Raphas Co. Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Skin Res Technol. 2023 Jul;29(7):e13413. doi: 10.1111/srt.13413.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease whose pathogenesis, cause, and treatment have been extensively studied. The association of AD with Th2 cytokines is well known; therefore, the analysis of this association is crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of AD. This study aimed to present a new method for measuring protein biomarkers in patients with AD, before and after treatment, using minimally invasive microneedles.
First, hyaluronic acid-loaded microneedle patches (HA-MNs) for skin sample collection were fabricated. Next, after Institutional Review Board approval, 20 patients with AD were recruited and skin samples were taken before and after treatment using four different sampling techniques: (1) tape stripping, (2) hydrocolloid patches, (3) hollow microneedles, and (4) HA-MNs. Lastly, proteins were isolated from the collected samples, and AD-related biomarkers were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Proteins were successfully extracted from the skin samples collected by tape stripping, hydrocolloid patches, and HA-MNs, except hollow microneedles. Interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, and interferon-γ were detected in the HA-MNs only. By comparing the biomarker level correlation before and after treatment and the improvement score of the patients, we observed a significant negative correlation between IL-4 and IL-13 with an improvement in AD symptoms.
Overall, our results verified that HA-MNs can be used to effectively analyze protein levels of biomarkers from skin metabolites of patients with AD and can be applied to monitor the treatment progress of patients with AD in a minimally invasive manner.
特应性皮炎（AD）是一种慢性炎症性皮肤病，其发病机制、病因和治疗已得到广泛研究。众所周知，AD 与 Th2 细胞因子有关，因此，分析这种关联对 AD 的诊断和治疗至关重要。本研究旨在提出一种使用微创微针测量 AD 患者治疗前后蛋白质生物标志物的新方法。
首先，制备了用于皮肤样本采集的透明质酸负载微针贴片（HA-MNs）。其次，在机构审查委员会批准后，招募了 20 名 AD 患者，并使用四种不同的采样技术（1）胶带剥离、（2）水胶体贴片、（3）空心微针和（4）HA-MNs 在治疗前后采集皮肤样本。最后，从收集的样本中分离蛋白质，并通过酶联免疫吸附试验分析 AD 相关生物标志物。
除空心微针外，成功地从胶带剥离、水胶体贴片和 HA-MNs 采集的皮肤样本中提取了蛋白质。仅在 HA-MNs 中检测到白细胞介素（IL）-4、IL-13 和干扰素-γ。通过比较治疗前后生物标志物水平的相关性和患者的改善评分，我们观察到 AD 症状改善与 IL-4 和 IL-13 呈显著负相关。
总体而言，我们的结果验证了 HA-MNs 可用于有效分析 AD 患者皮肤代谢物生物标志物的蛋白质水平，并可用于以微创方式监测 AD 患者的治疗进展。
