[Serum IgE level in autosomal dominant and X chromosomal recessive ichthyosis vulgaris]

Thirty-five patients with ichthyosis were classified according to the clinical features, the genetic and histological findings, the association with manifestations of atopy and the result of the skin tests into the following three groups: (1) Autosomal dominant ichthyosis (ADI) with atopy (n = 13), (2) ADI without atopy (n = 17) and (3) X-linked ichthyosis (n = 5). Serum IgE levels were determined in patients and in a normal control group (n = 93) with the Phadebas-IgE-PRIST. The frequency of the association of ADI with atopy was with 44% in accordance with the literature reports. The geometrical means of the IgE values in the ADI-group with atopy were statistically significantly higher than in the ADI group without atopy (p less than 0.05) or in the control group (p less than 0,01). The increase of the IgE-levels in ichthyosis is due to the associated atopy.