Cytokines, Skin, and Smallpox–A New Link to an Antimicrobial Peptide

Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) have an increased risk of infection with several viruses compared to patients with other inflammatory skin disorders such as psoriasis. In this issue of Immunity , Howell et al. (2006) find that the cytokine milieu in the skin of AD patients profoundly affects the innate response to vaccinia virus (VV) by blocking production of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37.