Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of urea on skin moisture.
Institution: A double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted at the Medcin Instituto da Pele – Clinical Research Center –, in Osasco, SP, Brazil.
Material and methods: Individuals with dry skin were submitted to one application of three different concentrations of a urea moisturizer, namely 3%, 5%, and 10%, and a control moisturizer. Clinical, subjective, and corneometry measurements were evaluated at 1, 4, and 6 hours.
Results: All moisturizers, including the control emulsion, improved significantly the skin moisture in the first evaluation (p < 0.05); 10% urea was superior to other concentrations, especially at the 4-hour evaluation, when it was compared with 3% urea, and at the 6-hour evaluation, when compared with the 5% and 3% presentations; at the 1-hour evaluation, patients referred itching and stinging with the use of 10% urea moisturizer.
Conclusion: The duration of the hygroscopic properties of urea is directly related with its concentration. Adverse symptoms, such as stinging, were observed only with higher concentrations.

Keywords: UREA

Introduction: Melasma is an acquired hypermelanosis of multifactorial etiology and diffi cult to treat. Tranexamic acid (TA) has been studied as an alternative therapy. Objective: To evaluate the effi cacy and safety of TA in treatment of melasma, comparing the use of localized microinjection versus topical therapy. Material and Method: Eighteen women with melasma were selected and treated for 12 weeks. Group A: at-home topical application of TA 3% twice a day. Group B: intradermal injections of TA (4 mg/ml) weekly. Before and after treatment, the groups were compared according to the following parameters: photographic evolution, MASI evolution, self-assessment and colorimetry. Results: Seventeen patients completed the study. In group A, photographic evaluation showed improvement in 12,5%, worsening in 50%, and 37.5% had no change. In group B, there was improvement in 66.7% and 22.2% had no change. For the MASI, there was signifi cant improvement (p = 0.0026), with no difference between treatments (p = 0.6512). In group A selfassessment, 37.5% of the patients rated as good and 50% as imperceptible. In group B, 66.7% rated as good and 33.3% as imperceptible. Colorimetric evaluation showed significant improvement on both treatments (p = 0.0008). Conclusion: Although the subjective clinical evaluation has demonstrated the superiority of injected treatment, in objective evaluation, both treatments were significantly effective, presenting TA as a promising new therapeutic option for melasma.

Keywords: TRANEXÂMIC ACID, MELASMA, THERAPEUTICS, THERAPY