Importance of food in the control of inflammation in atopic dermatitis

Patients that suffer from inflammatory diseases need to pay special attention to nutrition. For this reason, it is very important to change the approach of both health professionals and food industry specialists. There must be a close collaboration, starting from research, the development phase of foods for special nutrition states. Our primary objective was to identify foods or potential dietary ingredients, which efficacy in the treatment of atopic dermatitis had been scientifically demonstrated in vitro, in vivo and clinically. Furthemore, our perspective is presented regarding the research and development of foods for special nutritional states in atopic dermatitis. The PubMed database was analyzed for the period 2018-2020, as well as the European Legislation regarding the appropriate requirements for the composition and knowledge applicable to foods destined for use in special medical purposes. The search criteria were 'chronic dermatitis', 'atopic dermatitis', 'psoriasis', 'alternative treatments', 'natural treatments', 'complementary treatments', 'treatments for chronic dermatitis'. We also looked for undesirable effects or side effects of the foods included in the research in order to treat atopic dermatitis. The results showed that prebiotics, probiotics and certain plant extracts had a high efficacy in controlling inflammation in atopic dermatitis. The food development research for special nutrition states (atopic dermatitis) involves a multidisciplinary team. We started with the establishment of the general objective and continued with the consultation of the PubMed, EMBASE and other databases, and with the in vitro, preclinical and/or clinical determination of the efficacy of new developed foods, that must be protected with patents. The development of foods for special nutrition states represents a solution for improving the quality of life of atopic dermatitis patients.