Lower levels of certain lipids, or ceramides, in an infant’s skin may predict risk for developing eczema down the road, according to a new study.

For the PEBBLES study, which is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers tested skin lipids from the forearms of 133 infants with a family history of allergic disease using tape strips. The researchers followed children to see who developed eczema and who did not by age one.

Children who developed eczema had a lower level of a particular type of lipids called protein-bound ceramides. Specifically, reduced levels of six protein-bound ω-hydroxyl sphingosine ceramides with C30 and C32 fatty acids at six weeks were associated with increased risk of eczema by age one, the study showed.

Exciting Findings

“These are exciting findings. We now have a better understanding of the role of skin lipids in the development of eczema,” says senior author Professor Adrian Lowe, from the Allergy and Lung Health Unit in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health in Carlton, Australia, in a news release. “This helps pave the way to prevent children from developing eczema.”

“In the future, we may be able to use these lipids in screening programs to identify which babies are at risk of developing eczema. And also, these lipids may be used in skincare products to prevent eczema.”

“This phenomenon has also been found in a study conducted in South Korea, highlighting that these lipids are important for the development of eczema,” he adds.

Prevention: an Important Goal

Preventing eczema from developing remains an important goal.

“Several creams have been tested to prevent eczema, but they have not been effective. This may be because we were yet to determine which ingredients these creams need to contain,” Professor Lowe says.

Next, the team will test creams that can be created to promote the formation of protein-bound ceramides, and then to test if these are effective at preventing eczema.