Patent ID: 7897334

Claim:
A method of correlating an individuals levels of profilaggrin alleles present in genome that correspond to different filaggrin repeat lengths with the individuals predisposition for dry skin as measured by either their self-perceived frequency of dry skin, their clinically assessed leg dryness or their recovery to SLS-induced erythema, said method comprising the steps of: i) selecting a group of individuals; ii) identifying in each individual the proportions of profilaggrin alleles corresponding to 10, 11 or 12 filaggrin repeat units encoded by the genome by analysis of an ex-vivo sample taken from the individual; iii) determining for each individual a measure of predisposition for dry skin by correlating the presence of profilaggrin alleles having either the 11 or 12 filaggrin repeat units with susceptibility to dry skin as measured by one or more of the following methods: a. recording the individual's self-perceived frequency of dry skin, b. clinically assessing the individual's leg dryness, or c. determining an individual's rate of recovery following an SLS patch test.