Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/699375
PATIENTS OLDER THAN 12 who have severe infl ammatory acne may achieve clearer skin through a combination gel containing 0.3 percent adapalene and 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide (0.3 percent A/BPO). The fi ndings of a 12-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel group study were published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. Researchers divided 252 trial participants with severe infl ammatory acne into three treatment groups: control, 0.3 percent A/BPO and 0.1 percent A/BPO. Both A/BPO groups saw improvement compared with the control group, and 0.3 percent A/BPO more effectively treated severe lesions than 0.1 percent A/BPO. Development of the topical gel, which participants applied once daily, equips dermatologists with a critical tool for step-up treatment for patients with acne too severe for standard treatments, the authors concluded. ■ — By Michael Ferguson A STUDY PUBLISHED in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology links traffi c-related air pollution to the formation of lentigines, benign lesions also known as liver spots, on the cheeks of Caucasian women in Germany and Han Chinese women. The fi ndings suggest a common environmental factor between skin and lung aging, says Jean Krutmann, MD, co-author of the study. Two previous studies that evaluated lentigine development in the groups of women were analyzed using established air pollution models and photo reference scales to assess the effects of chronic exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), a characteristic element of traffi c-generated air pollution. Researchers conducting the current study found that an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of NO 2 was associated with an approximately 25 percent increase in the development of lentigines on the cheeks. The effects were most prominent in Asian women older than age 50. ■ — By Michael Ferguson H O N E V O, A P R O D U C T composed of 90 percent medical grade kanuka honey and 10 percent glycerin, demonstrated effi cacy as a rosacea treatment in a blinded, randomized clinical trial, the results of which were published in BMJ Open. During the trial, participants applied Honevo or cetomacrogol — a non-ionic moisturizing cream used by the control group — twice a day for eight weeks. At the trial's conclusion, 34.3 percent of the participants in the Honevo group and 17.4 percent of those in the control group showed improvement of greater than or equal to 2 or more on the Investigator Global Assessment of Rosacea Severity Score. However, patients' self-reports on a dermatology quality-of-life index and on the current severity of symptoms showed no difference in improvement between weeks two and eight. That may suggest some measurement tools need further refi nement in future studies, researchers say. ■ — By Michael Ferguson Cheeky Effect of Air Pollution FINDING (SKIN) CLARITY through Combo Gel HONEY TO THE RESCUE FOR Rosacea Patients SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: DERMATOLOGY 2 4 2 4❱❱❱❱❱