Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical features of varying degrees of acute contact dermatitis and difference in the expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) induced by acupoint application in patients with asthma. Methods A total of 110 patients with the remission stage of asthma were enrolled, and according to the degree of skin reaction after acupoint application, the patients were divided into mild group and moderate-to-severe group. The two groups were compared in terms of wheezing, wheeze, number of attacks, and clinical outcome, and macroscopic skin lesion, pathology of skin lesion, and expression of TSLP were observed in both groups. Results Compared with the mild group, the moderate-to-severe group had significantly reduced symptoms of wheezing and wheeze, a significantly lower number of attacks, and a significantly better clinical outcome after acupoint application (P<0.05). The patients in the mild group experienced pain and itching, erythema, papules, or clusters of small blisters at the site for acupoint application, and those in the moderate-to-severe group experienced unbearable pain and itching and more severe erythema and blisters. Pathological examination showed perivascular infiltration of monocytes, lymphocytes, and a small number of eosinophils in the mild group and dermal vasodilation, marked congestion, and infiltration of large numbers of monocytes and lymphocytes in the moderate-to-severe group. In the mild group, TSLP was mainly distributed in the epidermis, while in the moderate-to-severe group, it was mainly distributed in the perivascular area in the dermis. The expression of TSLP was positively correlated with the degree of acute contact dermatitis after acupoint application (r=0.908, P<0.05). Conclusion The degree of acute contact dermatitis induced by acupoint application is positively correlated with clinical manifestation and TSLP expression, which may be closely associated with dermal blood vessels.