Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common form of eczema. It is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin condition that features dry skin, persistent itching and scaly lesions. This debilitating condition can significantly compromise the patient′s quality of life due to the intractable itching and other associated factors like disfigurement, sleeping disturbances and social stigmatization from the visible lesions. 

The cornerstone for treating AD is applying topical glucocorticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors combined with regular use of moisturizers. Yet, conventional treatments have a certain degree of adverse effects, which may cause nonadherence to treatment among patients. Thus, the modern use of moisturizers for improving barrier repair and function is of great value. One of the approaches involves incorporating bioactive ingredients with clinically proven therapeutic benefits into dermocosmetics emollient. The current evidence indicates that these dermocosmetics emollients may improve the skin barrier and alleviate inflammation, pruritus and xerosis. 

A recent critical and comprehensive narrative review of the literature identified active ingredients such as plant-derived ingredients (e.g., licorice, chamomile, comfrey, oatmeal and cannabinoids), essential lipids (e.g., ceramide, linoleic acid), natural moisturizing factors (e.g., urea, arginine, pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, lactic acid) and antioxidants (e.g., furfuryl palmitate, vitamin E) to be potentially safe and effective treatments to alleviate symptoms of atopic eczema. The efficacy of some of the active ingredients is comparable to low- to medium-potency corticosteroids. Furthermore, these actives-containing moisturizers deliver high treatment compliance and tolerability, as well as reduced levels of corticosteroid use. However, current study designs provide low-level clinical evidence for recommending these ingredients for clinical use. More head-to-head clinical trials, homogenized clinical outcomes and improved study designs are crucial to elucidate the clinical roles of active ingredients in moisturizers.

Source: Vanessa VV, Wan Ahmad Kammal WSL, Lai ZW, et al. A review of moisturizing additives for atopic dermatitis. Cosmetics. 2022;9(4):75.