Researchers at the University of Dundee could hold the key to helping people’s whose lives are blighted by eczema.
The team discovered ten new genetic variants that help determine which people will develop the itchy dry skin condition, which affects one in 12 adults in the UK.
That could help scientists identify potential new targets for therapeutic research, helping to create the treatments of the future.
The university’s Dr Sara Brown and Professor Irwin McLean were among the international researchers to take part in the largest genetic study of eczema in the world.
Led by Dr Lavinia Paternoster from the University of Bristol, they combined data taken from 377,000 participants in 40 research studies.
The team used a technique called “genome-wide association analysis” to identify small changes (variants)in the genes commonly found in people with eczema.
They found 10 new variants, bringing the total number now known to be related to eczema to 31.
Dr Brown said: “Eczema affects an estimated one in five children and one in 12 adults in the UK and runs in families, so we know that genetic factors are an important part of the cause.
“The very large numbers of participants in this research has allowed us to “fine-tune” our understanding of eczema genetic risk, providing more detail on how the skin immune system can go wrong in eczema.”
The researchers also found some evidence of genetic overlap between eczema and other diseases like inflammatory bowel disease.
This suggests that studying these diseases together in the future could give important insights into the mechanisms of disease and potentially identify new treatments.
Dr Paternoster added: “Though the genetic variants identified in this current study represent only a small proportion of the risk for developing eczema they are in no way deterministic, rather they slightly increase your risk they do give new insights into important disease mechanisms and through on-going research in this area these findings could be turned into treatments of the future.”