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In adults with atopic dermatitis, moisturizers with anti-inflammatory ingredients significantly improved skin hydration and disease severity over two weeks.

While moisturizers with and without anti-inflammatory ingredients improved skin hydration in patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) over 2 weeks, moisturizers with anti-inflammatory ingredients were associated with significantly better gains, according to a study published in Dermatology Research and Practice.

The double-blind, randomized trial included 32 adult patients with mild to moderate AD from the dermatology clinic at the Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia. Among the patients, half were randomly assigned to a control group that received moisturizer with an occlusive (dimethicone), humectants (glycerin, saccharide, butylene glycol, and hyaluronic acid), and emollients (shea butter and squalane) but no anti-inflammatory ingredients.

The other 16 patients were assigned to the experiment group that received moisturizer with the same occlusive, humectants, and emollients as the control group received but with added anti-inflammatory ingredients (shea butter, bacterial lysate, allantoin, bisabolol, Phragmites kharka extract, Poria cocos, and Mirabilis jalapa).

Patients were instructed to apply their moisturizer twice a day for 2 weeks.

Between baseline and day 14, corneometer-assessed skin hydration values increased from 35.97 ± 6.04 arbitrary units (AU) to 66.06 ± 15.84 AU in the group that received moisturizer with anti-inflammatory ingredients and from 40.74 ± 10.94 AU to 56.12 ± 8.34 AU in the control group, according to the study.

“Based on the analysis carried out, we also found significant differences (P<0.05) in the corneometric value between the experiment group and the control group on the 14th day, where the hydration value of the skin after the administration of moisturizer was significantly better in the experiment group compared with the control group,” wrote corresponding author Cita Rosita Sigit Prakoeswa, MD, PhD, and colleagues.

Compared with baseline, disease severity as measured by Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) tool improved 13.20% in the first week and 24.50% in the second week in the anti-inflammatory moisturizer group versus 12.00% in the first week and 16.70% in the second week in the control group.

“[A]fter completing the 2-week trial, we found a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the reduction of SCORAD between the experiment group and the control group,” the researchers wrote. “This indicates that moisturizers with anti-inflammatory ingredients can reduce the severity of the disease after 1 week of use and clinical improvement is achieved after 2 weeks of use.”