REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1628163
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Insights into Inflammation Driven Autoimmune Skin Disorders: Trends and ChallengesView all 5 articles
The role of chemerin, elafin, and visfatin in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis
Provisionally accepted
Mateusz Matwiejuk1,2*
Agnieszka Kulczynska-Przybik1
Hanna Myśliwiec1
Adrian Chabowski1
Barbara Mroczko1Iwona Fisiiak1- 1Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
- 2Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Bialystok, Poland
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Atopic Dermatitis is a chronic skin condition characterized by inflammation and itching. It has a genetic component, but environmental factors also play a significant role. The immune system is overactive, leading to an abnormal inflammatory response. Literature data indicate that numerous proteins contribute to the development and progression of atopic dermatitis, like antimicrobial peptides, alarmins, autoantigens, cytokines, growth factors, and proteases. To synthesize current knowledge and identify the most promising contributors of AD pathogenesis a literature search was conducted using PubMed (1990present), Google Scholar, and Embase, has been performed appropriate search terms. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge on how elafin, chemerin, and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (visfatin/NAMPT) contribute to the pathophysiology of skin inflammation in atopic dermatitis. Recent discoveries have highlighted the importance of these proteins as important players in the functioning of the epidermal barrier. Importantly, some proteins exert antiinflammatory effects (e.g., elafin), some pro-inflammatory effects, such as visfatin/NAMPT or chemerin, which exhibits both pro-and antiinflammatory properties. This makes them intriguing candidates for modulating the complex inflammatory processes associated with atopic dermatitis. A deeper understanding of the role of these proteins may provide a basis for the development of appropriate treatments for atopic dermatitis. However, knowledge about the importance of these proteins in the pathological mechanisms of atopic dermatitis is still limited. The knowledge about the significance of these proteins in the pathological mechanisms of atopic dermatitis is still limited. However, recent studies suggest that they may play crucial roles in the development and progression of atopic dermatitis.
Keywords: atopic dermatitis, chemerin, Elafin, visfatin, NAMPT
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Matwiejuk, Kulczynska-Przybik, Myśliwiec, Chabowski, Mroczko and Fisiiak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mateusz Matwiejuk, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
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