{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T13:53:28Z","timestamp":1776693208872,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773964800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background and objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Long-term air pollution is an established risk factor for atopic dermatitis (AD), but modifiers of this risk, particularly following post-COVID-19 immune alterations, are poorly understood. We investigated whether prior COVID-19 infection modifies the association between air pollution and incident AD.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      From an initial cohort of 502,357 UK Biobank (UKB) participants, a final analytic sample of 173,766 individuals was included after excluding those with missing data or indeterminate COVID-19 status. Incident AD was identified via ICD-10 code L20. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between long-term PM\n                      <jats:sub>2.5<\/jats:sub>\n                      , NO\n                      <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                      , and NO\n                      <jats:sub>x<\/jats:sub>\n                      exposure and AD risk, adjusting for age, sex, Townsend Deprivation Index, BMI, and lifestyle factors. The synergistic interaction between PM\n                      <jats:sub>2.5<\/jats:sub>\n                      and COVID-19 was evaluated on both multiplicative and additive scales.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A significant association was identified between long-term PM\n                      <jats:sub>2.5<\/jats:sub>\n                      exposure and a higher likelihood of AD (OR\u202f=\u202f1.04, 95% CI 1.01\u20131.07). While prior COVID-19 infection was not an independent risk factor (OR\u202f=\u202f0.98, 95% CI 0.91\u20131.05), it significantly modified the effect of PM\n                      <jats:sub>2.5<\/jats:sub>\n                      , with a synergistic interaction observed (\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      for interaction\u202f=\u202f0.018). A synergistic interaction was observed, meaning the combined effect of air pollution and COVID-19 history exceeded the sum of their individual risks.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Chronic PM\n                      <jats:sub>2.5<\/jats:sub>\n                      exposure is linked to a heightened AD risk, which is then markedly amplified in individuals with a prior history of COVID-19 infection. Our findings suggest that prior viral infections can sensitize individuals to the dermatological effects of air pollution, defining a vulnerable subgroup that may benefit from targeted environmental health strategies.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1768057","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T06:39:16Z","timestamp":1773988756000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association of air pollution and prior COVID-19 with atopic dermatitis risk: an interaction analysis in the UK biobank"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yuanyi","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dawei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiaqing","family":"Xiong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1016\/s0140-6736(20)31286-1","article-title":"Atopic dermatitis","volume":"396","author":"Langan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"441","DOI":"10.1038\/ng1767","article-title":"Common loss-of-function variants of the epidermal barrier protein filaggrin are a major predisposing 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