Dietary treatment of dermatitis herpetiformis

Abstract

Essentially all patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and dermal granular IgA deposits have a gluten-sensitive enteropathy as seen in coeliac disease. A gluten-free diet would normally restore mucosal morphology within months. The dapsone medication required to suppress the skin lesions could be gradually reduced and/or finally discontinued in most patients if they constantly adhere to the diet. The immunological reactions may also be reduced. The gluten-free diet could thus be successful both concerning manifestations from the skin and the gut. Although well known in dermatological literature, diet therapy in DH has attracted little interest in journals of nutrition. A survey of this causal diet therapy for the disease therefore seems appropriate.