In this study three cream formulations
were compared in order to assess the influence of different kind
of excipients on the skin barrier and stratum corneum hydration.
The first cream was formulated based on lipophilic emollients:
petrolatum, paraffin oil, cetylstearilic alcohol, cetyl palmitate
and paraffin, the second cream was formulated based on emollients
(cetylstearilic alcohol, cetyl palmitate) and humectants (urea
and glycerin), both as oil-in-water emulsions, and the third cream
contained emollients (paraffin oil, cetyl palmitate, cetylstearilic
alcohol) and humectants (urea and glycerin) in a multiple emulsion
system, water-oil-water type, of second order and three
components.
The formulations were tested on the forearm of 10 healthy
volunteers. The measurements were performed at room temperature
(22± 2 C) and 45% ± 2% relative humidity. Skin
conditions in terms of water content of the stratum corneum
and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were analyzed before creams
application and at several time-intervals after cream application,
during 4 hours. The best hydration was obtained when the multiple
emulsions were used and also the duration of hydration was
the greatest. The TEWL values are not significantly influenced
by the studied formulations.
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