Natural killer cell activity in atopic dermatitis: a sequential study.

It is well-recognized that patients with atopic dermatitis handle certain cutaneous viral infections poorly. As natural killer (NK) cell activity is considered to contribute to the immune response to viral infection, seven young adults with atopic dermatitis had their NK cell function assessed over a 12-month period. Natural killer cell activity was found to correlate inversely with disease activity. The more active the disease, the greater was the reduction in NK cell function (P less than 0.01. In addition, a strong correlation between clinical activity and IgE was shown (P less than 0.001).