Blanchiment de la peau: Comparer l'hydroquinone avec une combinaison d'acides ellagique/salicylique (Pour les professionnels)

Dahl A et al. Clinical Evaluation of the Efficacy and Tolerance of a product containing ellagic and salicylic acids in reducing hyperpigmentation and dark spots in comparison de 4% hydroquinone.

• The study included 54 females (30-65 years old, phototypes I to VI):

1. they were randomly assigned to 2 groups
2. application with either ellagic/salicylic acid or hydroquinone 4% was done twice a day for 12 weeks
3. The results were based on the following:
   1. Clinical efficacy evaluation (visual analog scale (1-10))
   2. Tolerance grading (0 to 3 (3 severe))
   3. Assessment: dark spot size and number, self assessment questionnaire, non invasive biosinstrumentation, digital photography.

• The authors mention that the results show that the product provides comparable skin depigmentation benefit as hydroquinone 4% but that it has better esthetics (texture, pleasantness to use, skin feel).

• Comments:

1. There are no photographs showing the “before and after” results.
2. There are only two comparable graphs, one for the “ellagic…” group and one for the “hydroquinone” group. Both invariably show improvement of all parameters (dark spots, hyperpigmentation, skin tone, firmness, lightening, elasticity, texture, radiance, overall facial appearance, overall facial imperfections). They look alike but are not compared to each other quantitatively-speaking.
3. Skin color could have been analyzed and shown in the results. Colorimetry is a non invasive measurement of skin tone
4. There is no graph showing non instrumental size analysis or mentioning of the apparatus used in “non instrumentive bioinstrumentation”.
5. The conclusions appear a bit far-fetched.

Source of Information: 71st Annual Meeting of the AAD (American Academy of Dermatology) – Miami, Florida, United States of America (USA)