Key Benefits

• Check allergic-type inflammation and flag infection during eczema flares.
• Spot allergic immune activity that often drives eczema via eosinophil elevation.
• Clarify whether a flare is allergic or infectious using CRP patterns.
• Guide when to escalate anti-inflammatory care versus evaluate for infection.
• Track disease activity and treatment response through eosinophil and CRP trends.
• Flag possible coexisting asthma or allergies when eosinophils run persistently high.
• Protect from unnecessary antibiotics by confirming low CRP during noninfectious flares.
• Best interpreted with symptoms, skin exam, and total IgE.

What are Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis biomarkers are measurable signals from your skin and immune system that reveal how active the disease is and what’s driving it. They capture the two core processes of eczema: a leaky skin barrier and allergic-type inflammation (type 2/Th2 immunity). In practical terms, biomarker testing can show whether your biology is dominated by allergy antibody activity (IgE), activated allergy cells (eosinophils), and inflammatory messengers (cytokines such as IL-4, IL-13, IL-22, IL-31), or by skin-targeting signals that draw immune cells into rashes (chemokines like TARC/CCL17). It can also reflect barrier protein status (filaggrin) and tissue stress (LDH). Together, these measurements create a biological fingerprint that helps confirm the inflammatory nature of your eczema, indicate severity, and identify which immune pathways are most active. That information supports choosing targeted treatments, aligning care with your specific disease mechanism, and tracking whether inflammation is settling or building over time. In short, biomarkers turn the “look” of eczema into objective biology you can monitor and act on.

Why are Atopic Dermatitis biomarkers important?

Atopic Dermatitis biomarkers capture how the immune system, skin barrier, and whole‑body inflammation are behaving. They translate the biology of itch, redness, and flares into measurable signals, helping distinguish allergic activity from infection and gauging how far beyond the skin the disease reaches.

Eosinophils reflect type‑2 (allergic/Th2) activation; typical values are roughly 0–500, and for most people with or without eczema, the healthiest pattern sits toward the low end. CRP reflects systemic innate inflammation; typical values are under 3, with optimal also low. When eosinophils trend high, people often experience more itch, thicker lesions, and may have coexisting asthma or hay fever. CRP that moves above the usual range in eczema often signals a flare with widespread inflammation or a superimposed infection; fatigue, feverishness, and tender, weeping skin can accompany this. Children commonly run slightly higher eosinophils during active atopy, and pregnancy can nudge CRP upward and shift immunity toward Th2, sometimes amplifying eczema.

When values are low—eosinophils near the bottom of the range and CRP low—type‑2 signaling and systemic inflammation are quiet. AD tends to be calmer: less itch, better sleep, and fewer secondary infections. In teens and adults, this pattern usually mirrors better barrier integrity; in pregnancy, low CRP is reassuring but needs context because baseline CRP can rise.

Big picture, these markers sit at the crossroads of skin, immune, and metabolic systems. Persistently high eosinophils link with broader allergic disease, while chronically elevated CRP points to systemic inflammatory load tied to cardiovascular and metabolic risk. Tracking them helps map disease activity, comorbidities, and long‑term health trajectory.

What Insights Will I Get?

Atopic dermatitis is a skin-centered disorder with whole‑body implications: it reflects immune polarization, barrier integrity, and the balance between local and systemic inflammation that can affect sleep, infection risk, and quality of life. Biomarker testing helps separate flare biology from background immune tone. At Superpower, we test Eosinophils and C‑reactive protein (CRP).

Eosinophils are allergy‑associated white blood cells that expand with type 2 immune activity (IL‑4/IL‑13/IL‑5). Many people with atopic dermatitis show eosinophilia, which can track with itch, rash extent, and comorbid atopy (asthma, rhinitis). CRP is a liver‑made acute‑phase protein that rises with systemic inflammation; in uncomplicated atopic dermatitis it is often normal or only mildly elevated, and marked increases usually suggest infection or another inflammatory driver.

For stability and healthy function, eosinophils in the reference range suggest restrained type 2 activity and a more stable skin barrier. A rising or persistently high eosinophil count points to ongoing allergic inflammation and higher flare propensity. A low CRP supports that inflammation is primarily cutaneous; sustained elevations in CRP are atypical for isolated atopic dermatitis and indicate broader systemic inflammation that may warrant attention to intercurrent illness.

Notes: Eosinophils are higher in early childhood and show diurnal variation. Parasitic disease, asthma, and allergic rhinitis can raise eosinophils; viral or bacterial infections elevate CRP. Pregnancy, obesity, and smoking influence CRP. Systemic corticosteroids and biologics can lower both markers. Assay methods and lab reference ranges vary.