Jongsung Lee, E. Jung, J. Koh
Dec 1, 2008
Citations
1
Influential Citations
89
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
The Journal of Dermatology
Abstract
Rosmarinic acid is known to have anti‐inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of rosmarinic acid on atopic dermatitis (AD), one of the inflammatory disorders of the skin. Twenty‐one subjects (14 women and seven men, 5–28 years of age) with mild AD participated in this study. Rosmarinic acid (0.3%) emulsion was topically applied to the elbow flexures of AD patients twice a day (once in the morning and once in the evening). All subjects were evaluated for skin conditions before treatment at the first visit, and then at 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. According to local Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis index results, erythema on antecubital fossa was significantly reduced at 4 and 8 weeks (P < 0.05). Transepidermal water loss of the antecubital fossa was significantly reduced at 8 weeks compared to before treatment (P < 0.05). The results from self‐questionnaires on the efficacy of rosmarinic acid indicated that dryness, pruritus and general AD symptoms improved. Our investigation into the AD‐mitigating effect of rosmarinic acid through in vivo experiments demonstrated the possible clinical use of rosmarinic acid as a therapeutic agent for AD.