Abstract: Objective To investigate the serum levels of CXC, CC and C chemokines, and to estimate the relationship among the three kinds of chemokines as well as that between these chemokines and other Th1 and Th2-related cytokines, in patients with atopic dermatitis （AD）. Methods Fifty-one patients with atopic dermatitis, including 35 males and 16 females with an average age of 17 years and disease course of 13.6 years were enrolled into this study together with 34 normal human controls. ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of monokine induced by IFN-γ （Mig）, thymus and activation-regulated chemokine （TARC）, cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine （CTACK） and lymphotactin （Ltn） in these subjects. Severity of AD was assessed according to SCORAD. Results The serum levels were 79.6 ± 28.0 ng/L for Mig, 349.9 ± 91.5 ng/L for TARC, 747.4 ± 359.4 ng/L for CTACK and 141.0 ± 68.4 ng/L for Ltn in patients, significantly higher than those in the normal controls （63.8 ± 26.5 ng/L, 219.4 ± 82.1 ng/L, 294.3 ± 64.9 ng/L, 80.9 ± 54.2 ng/L, P < 0.05, 0.01, 0.01, 0.01 respectively）. A significant correlation was observed between the serum level of CTACK and SCORAD score in patients （r = 0.343, P < 0.05）. Similarly, the percentage of body surface area （BSA） involved positively correlated with the serum levels of Mig, TARC, CTACK and Ltn. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the serum level of Ltn and TARC （r = 0.444, P < 0.01） as well as CTACK （r = 0.572, P < 0.01）, between that of CTACK and TARC （r = 0.524, P < 0.01）, and between that of TARC and Mig （r = 0.313, P < 0.05）. Conclusion The CXC, CC and C chemokines might be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Further more, CTACK level could serve as a good indicator for the severity of AD.

Key words: Atopic dermatitis, Cytokines