Advanced fructo-oligosaccharides improve itching and aberrant epidermal lipid composition in children with atopic dermatitis

Sukyung Kim; Bae-Gon Kang; Soonok Sa; Se Young Park; Kyungheon Ryu; Jinyoung Lee; Boram Park; Mijeong Kwon; Yeonghee Kim; Jiwon Kim; Sanghee Shin; Sehun Jang; Byung Eui Kim; Jaewoong Bae; Kangmo Ahn; Kwang-Hyeon Liu; Jihyun Kim

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1383779

Advanced fructo-oligosaccharides improve itching and aberrant epidermal lipid composition in children with atopic dermatitis

Front Microbiol. 2024 Apr 29:15:1383779. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1383779. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Sukyung Kim¹, Bae-Gon Kang², Soonok Sa³, Se Young Park³, Kyungheon Ryu³, Jinyoung Lee¹, Boram Park⁴, Mijeong Kwon¹, Yeonghee Kim¹, Jiwon Kim¹, Sanghee Shin¹, Sehun Jang¹, Byung Eui Kim^{1

5}, Jaewoong Bae⁶, Kangmo Ahn^{1

7}, Kwang-Hyeon Liu², Jihyun Kim^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
² BK21 FOUR Community-Based Intelligent Novel Drug Discovery Education Unit, College of Pharmacy, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
³ Food R&D, Samyang Corporation, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Biomedical Statistics Center, Research Institute for Future Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, United States.
⁶ R&D Institute, BioEleven Co., Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Introduction: The effects of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on atopic dermatitis (AD) have not been determined.

Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, children with AD aged 24 months to 17 years received either advanced FOS containing 4.25 g of 1-kestose or a placebo (maltose) for 12 weeks.

Results: The SCORAD and itching scores were reduced in patients treated with both FOS (all p < 0.01) and maltose (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01). Sleep disturbance was improved only in the FOS group (p < 0.01). The FOS group revealed a decreased proportion of linoleic acid (18:2) esterified omega-hydroxy-ceramides (EOS-CERs) with amide-linked shorter chain fatty acids (C28 and C30, all p < 0.05), along with an increased proportion of EOS-CERs with longer chain fatty acids (C32, p < 0.01).

Discussion: FOS may be beneficial in alleviating itching and sleep disturbance, as well as improving skin barrier function in children with AD.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis; fatty acid elongase; fructo-oligosaccharides; kestose; prebiotics.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by Samyang Corporation, Seongnam, Korea.