ATOPIC-DERMATITIS SUCCESSFULLY TREATED BY ERADICATION OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI

A relationship between allergic diseases and Helicobacter pylori infec tion has recently been noted. We report a case of atopic dermatitis an d H. pylori infection in a 14-year-old girl. She had had widespread di ffuse skin erythema with erosions and pigmentation since the age of 3 years. Endoscopically, there was chronic antral gastritis with H. pylo ri infection and histological eosinophilic infiltration. A high titer of H. pylori-specific IgG was present in serum. She was treated with a proton pump inhibitor (lansoprazole 60 mg), an antibiotic (clarithrom ycin 800 mg), and plaunotol (a mucosal protective agent, 480 mg) for 2 weeks to eliminate the infection. After 10 days of treatment, erythem a and itching were more widespread and vesicle formation was seen on t he foot. Generalized skin lesions abated a few days later. After eradi cation of the bacterium by the treatment, eosinophils decreased from 3 8.8% to 19.0%, and the clinical signs of atopic dermatitis almost disa ppeared. Serum gastrin level and the pepsinogen I/II ratio were normal ized and histological findings of gastric mucosa showed improvement. H . pylori-specific IgE antibody, analyzed by the Western blot method, g radually decreased with the eradication treatment.