Irritant Contact Dermatitis versus Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Topical exposure to a variety of xenobiotics may result in irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) as well as allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), both in animals and humans. ICD and ACD may have clinical, histological and immuno- histochemical similarities (Lammintausta and Maibach, 1990; Patil and Maibach, 1994; Brasch et al., 1992; Scheynius et al., 1984), but the immuno- logical mechanisms that underl…