Barazone decreases skin lesions and pruritus and increases quality of life in dogs with atopic dermatitis: a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled study was conducted to assess the efficacy of a new 0.025% budesonide leave-on-conditioner (Barazone) in controlling the clinical signs of canine atopic dermatitis (AD). Twenty-nine dogs with AD were randomly allocated to receive 3 weeks of once-weekly treatment with either Barazone or Placebo and then were crossed-over to receive the alternative treatment for a further 3 weeks. At the start and end of each treatment phase, referring veterinarians performed a dermatological and general physical examination on each dog, assigned a Lesional Score, collected blood for haematological and biochemical analyses and rated the dog's overall tolerance to the preceding treatment. Owners assessed their dog's level of pruritus and quality of life (QoL) daily, using visual analogue scales labelled with behavioural descriptors. Barazone improved skin lesions (P = 0.02) and QoL (P < 0.001) and reduced pruritus (P ≤ 0.002) compared with treatment with Placebo. There were no significant differences in the tolerance scores and only minor differences in the general physical examination findings and haematological and biochemical parameters between dogs receiving Barazone or Placebo. This study demonstrated that Barazone, applied once weekly at 1 g/kg for 3 weeks, was an efficacious treatment for the control of the clinical signs of AD in dogs.

The effects of freezing skin on transdermal drug penetration kinetics.

This study investigated the effects of freezing canine skin on the penetration kinetics of hydrocortisone. Skin samples from three dogs were used for in vitro penetration studies commencing on the day of skin collection (fresh skin) and again after freezing at -20 degrees C for 1, 4, 8 and 12 months. When the data from the dogs was averaged, the pseudo-steady-state flux (Jss) of hydrocortisone through skin frozen for any duration was significantly (P < 0.023) greater than through fresh skin and there was a positive relationship (P < 0.007) between the length of freezing and DeltaJss. For all dogs, the lag times (tlag) calculated for hydrocortisone penetration were significantly (P < 0.029) shorter through skin that had been frozen, compared with fresh skin. However, the shapes of the permeation profiles of hydrocortisone appeared similar through the fresh and frozen dog skins and no differences were detected between the groups on histological examination. The results of this study have shown that freezing dog skin at -20 degrees C can significantly increase the transdermal penetration of hydrocortisone in vitro, and that the extent of this enhancement can increase with duration of freezing.