As compared to urea cream, the use of linoleic acid, dexpanthenol and ceramide moisturizing cream can be useful for improvement of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) in children, suggests a study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology.

Phatthanan Somjorn et al. performed this randomized controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of plant-derived, skin-conditioning agent with high proportion of linoleic acid plus dexpanthenol and ceramide (LDC) cream compared to 5% urea cream for the treatment of AD.

A total of 38 patients with AD applied LDC cream twice daily on one side of the body and 5% urea cream on the other side. The altered scoring of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) was used to evaluate the clinical efficacy.

It was found that, 37 out of 38 patients completed the study, both groups had significantly improved clinical SCORAD from baseline and after 2 and 4 weeks. Patients in the LDC group experienced significantly decreased severity of disease as compared to the 5% urea group. No significant differences were observed in terms of boosting hydration in stratum corneum in both groups.