Genetic risk factors for occupational contact dermatitis

Occupational contact dermatitis is an important current occupational health problem with serious economic and social consequences. Among possible risk factors for this disease, researchers pay attention to genetic predisposition. Identification of polymorphisms associated with the occupational pathology will allow specialists to establish risk groups, carry out timely preventive measures, and adjust treatment, guided by a personalized medicine approach. The purpose of this review was to summarize the results of studying genetic risk factors for occupational contact dermatitis. Three researchers did an independent search in the PubMed, Google Scholar, eLibrary, and CyberLeninka databases and further analysis of scientific literature on genetic predisposition to occupational dermatitis published in 1990 to 2023. Of 88 papers analyzed, 32 articles were included in this review. We established that genetic risk factors for occupational contact dermatitis were usually studied in metallurgical workers with a focus on potential candidate genes among skin barrier function-related genes, pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes, and xenobiotic metabolism and biotransformation genes. The most compelling evidence for the use of genetic polymorphisms as risk factors for occupational contact dermatitis has been demonstrated for the filaggrin (FLG) gene, which is involved in maintaining the skin barrier, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which is involved in protecting the body and cells from inflammation and apoptosis. However, the data available are insufficient to use genetic polymorphisms as risk factors for occupational skin diseases. Further studies that take into account the mechanism of interaction of different genes during the development of occupational contact dermatitis are required.