%0 Journal Article
%T A phase i study of daily treatment with a ceramide-dominant triple lipid mixture commencing in neonates
%A Adrian J Lowe
%A Mimi LK Tang
%A Shyamali C Dharmage
%A George Varigos
%A Della Forster
%A Lyle C Gurrin
%A Colin F Robertson
%A Michael J Abramson
%A Katrina J Allen
%A John Su
%J BMC Dermatology
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-5945-12-3
%X Ten infants (0-4 weeks of age) with a family history of allergic disease were recruited into an open-label, phase one trial of daily application of EpiCeram£¿ for six weeks. The primary outcomes were rate of compliance and adverse events. Data on development of eczema, and physiological properties of the skin (transepidermal water loss, hydration, and surface pH) were also measured.Eighty percent (8/10) of mothers applied the study cream on 80% or more of days during the six week intervention period. Though a number of adverse events unrelated to study product were reported, there were no adverse skin reactions to the study cream.These preliminary results support the safety and parental compliance with daily applications of a ceramide-dominant formula for the prevention of eczema, providing the necessary ground work for a randomised clinical trial to evaluate EpiCeram£¿ for the prevention of eczema.The study was listed at the Australian/New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR): reg. no. ACTRN12609000727246.There is growing awareness of the importance of skin barrier function in the aetiology of eczema [1]. A number of genetic variants that result in null expression of filaggrin, are associated with impaired skin-barrier function, increased risk of eczema, and eczema further complicated by asthma [2,3]. The majority of childhood eczema commences within the first six months of life [4], and even healthy infants display lower skin barrier function than adults [5]. Interventions in early life that improve skin barrier could also reduce the risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis, by reduction in risk of sensitisation across a defective skin barrier [1,6] or by reducing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that induce airway inflammation, such as thymic stromal lymphopoietin, by eczematous skin [7].Lipid mixtures that contain the major lipid components of human skin (ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids), at physiological concentrations, have been shown to gre
%K Eczema prevention
%K Eczema
%K Skin barrier function
%K Asthma
%K Atopy
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-5945/12/3