Genetic susceptibility to contact dermatitis

Skin diseases, mainly irritant and allergic contact dermatitis (CD), are one of the most prevalent work related disorders. In the occupational situation, CD tends to become chronic, often resulting in impaired quality of life and loss of work ability. Although skin exposure is a prerequisite for the development of CD, there is substantial evidence that under similar exposure conditions some individuals are more prone to acquiring CD than others. Identifying of susceptible individuals might be useful in occupational health practice for the application of preventive measures and for career guidance for apprentices and workers in high risk occupations.   More recently, a number of studies investigated the link between individual susceptibility to CD and variations in the genes that are involved in the maintenance of the skin barrier, inflammatory response and biotransformation. In this presentation, the results of these studies will be summarized and discussed in the context of the pre-employment susceptibility testing in the occupational health. Furthermore, data from our recent work on the role of the loss-of-function mutations in the filaggrin gene and cytokine gene polymorphisms for development and course of occupational CD will be presented.