Oat and Aloe Moisturizer Outperforms Metronidazole in Rosacea; 9 Risk Factors for Severity Identified
A botanical moisturizer with oat and aloe outperformed metronidazole for rosacea erythema and lesions over 12 weeks. A separate study found nine risk factors for rosacea severity, including female sex, family history, and skin care habits.
A novel botanical anti-inflammatory moisturizer containing oat and aloe was significantly more effective than 0.75% metronidazole cream in reducing erythema and inflammatory lesions in rosacea, according to a 12-week double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Separately, a cross-sectional study identified nine risk factors associated with rosacea severity, including female gender, family history, and hyperlipidemia.
In the trial, 60 adults with mild-to-severe rosacea were randomized to use either the anti-inflammatory moisturizer or metronidazole cream daily for 12 weeks. At week 4, investigator global assessment (IGA) scores were similar between groups. By week 8, the moisturizer group showed a 50% reduction in erythema IGA compared to 22% in the metronidazole group (p=0.001) and a 74% reduction in inflammatory lesion counts versus 6% (p=0.015). At the end of 12 weeks, the moisturizer achieved a 54% reduction in erythema IGA versus 23% (p<0.001) and a 74% reduction in lesion counts versus 17% (p=0.044). No tolerability issues were noted with either product.
The risk factor analysis, conducted among 305 newly diagnosed rosacea patients at a single center in China, found that disease severity measured by IGA was positively correlated with erythema index and transepidermal water loss, and negatively correlated with skin hydration. In multivariate analysis, nine factors were significantly associated with more severe rosacea: female gender (OR range 1.280-1.882), family history (OR 1.367-2.202), hyperlipidemia (OR 1.233-1.734), constipation (OR 1.222-1.832), allergic symptoms (OR 1.201-1.616), severe or extreme pressure (OR up to 5.934), face washing frequency other than twice daily, bathing with hot or cold water instead of warm, and non-use of acidic skin care products. All results were consistent across alternative severity assessment tools.
Both studies were published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.