Early life emollient therapy provides a protective effect for the primary prevention of atopic dermatitis (AD) in high-risk infants, a new study found. Researchers performed a randomized controlled trial enrolling infants at high risk for AD development as determined by family history. The intervention was full-body once daily application of the study emollient with ceramide and amino acids. The control arm was asked not to apply full body emollient regularly and only use an emollient of their choice for dry skin. The primary outcomes was the cumulative incidence of AD diagnosed at 12 months. Among the findings:

• Less than half the target sample size was enrolled (n=100, goal sample was 208); 28% lost to follow-up.
• A numerical trend was observed in favor of the intervention across all clinical endpoints.
• There were not significant differences between groups in skin barrier or microbiome assessments.