THERAPEUTICAL NOTES   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2002 August;137(4):291-3

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of a dietetic product to normalise sebaceous hypersecretion of the scalp

Piraccini B. M. ¹, Lorenzi S. ¹, Tosti A. ¹, Cassano N. ², Vena G. A. ², Lacarrubba F. ³, Micali G. ³, Tsampau D. ⁴, Lotti T. M. ⁴, Turbino L. ⁵, Cattarini G. ⁵, Brusati C. ⁵, Guarrera M. ⁵, Cotellessa C. ⁶, Chimenti S. ⁶, Seidenari S. ⁷, Giannetti A. ⁷, Bassisi P. ⁸, Caprari E. ⁸, Viciguerra M. T. ⁸, Alinovi A. ⁸, D’Amore A. ⁹, Celleno L. ⁹, Rossi A. ¹⁰, Calvieri S. ¹⁰, Chieregato C. ¹¹, Magnanini M. ¹¹, Chieregato G. ¹¹

Clinica Dermatologica dell’Università di 1 Bologna, 2 Bari, 3 Catania, 4 Firenze, 5 Genova, 6 L’Aquila, 7 Modena, 8 Parma, 9 Roma - La Cattolica, 10 Roma - La Sapienza 11 Verona

Background. The study evaluates the efficacy and tolerability of a dietetic product, Biomineral 5-alfa®, which contains type 1 and type 2 5a-reductase inhibitors, to treat sebaceous hypersecretion of the scalp.
Methods. This is a multi-centre open study on 123 volunteers of both sexes affected by sebaceous hypersecretion of the scalp. Treatment consisted in 1 capsule per day of the dietetic product for three months. At monthly controls and at the end of the study, the degree of sebaceous secetion was evaluated clinically on a scale of three. Seborrhea was evaluated qualitatively four days after washing (evaluated instrumentally with the Sebometer 810, GF Secchi, Italy). Variations in the amount of seborrhea were evaluated with parametric statistical methods (t-test for paired samples).
Results. Clinical evaluation of the subjects revealed a decrease in seborrhea in all patients: scores dropped from 1 or 2, recorded at the start of treatment, to 0 in 78% of subjects and 1 in 22% of subjects at the end of the study.
Conclusions. The clinical efficacy of Biomineral 5-alfa® in rapidly and markedly decreasing seborrhea is demonstrated. The effectiveness evaluation was positive, showing an evident clinical efficacy. All subjects also reported a positive effect. The dietetic product is well tolerated and caused no side-effects.