Efficacy of Body Lotion Containing N-palmitoylethanolamine in Subjects with Chronic Pruritus due to Dry Skin: A Dermatocosmetic Study
Randomised controlled trialHumansTopical
- Design
- Randomised controlled trial
- Subjects
- 100 adults with chronic itch from dry skin: 51 used the base lotion and 49 used the lotion with palmitoylethanolamide
- Dose used in the study
- A body lotion with palmitoylethanolamide, applied twice a day, compared with the same lotion without it. The concentration was not visible on the page checked.
- Duration
- 2 weeks, with a 2-week follow-up
- What was measured
- Itch intensity, quality of life, skin roughness, scaling, scratch marks and cosmetic acceptance
What the authors reported
Itch fell significantly in both groups, with no significant difference between them (a fall of 1.1 points with palmitoylethanolamide versus 0.6 points without). Quality of life improved in both groups. The palmitoylethanolamide group had a greater fall in stinging (p = 0.024). Roughness, scaling and patient-rated benefit did not differ. Six subjects in each group reported worse skin symptoms.
Limits of this study
The main outcome showed no significant advantage over the base lotion. The authors note that there was no untreated group and that they did not adjust for multiple tests, which weakens the one positive finding. The study was funded by Stiefel Laboratories, a GlaxoSmithKline company, and three authors had received honoraria from Stiefel.
Source
Entry checked against the full text at the publisher (Acta Dermato-Venereologica) on 2026-09-21. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.