Therapeutic efficacy assessment of topical human epidermal growth factor in combination with metronidazole gel for rosacea

WU Siyu; DU lin; NIU jiaxin; ZHU yuanjie; CHEN Jianghan; WU Jianhua

doi:10.11786/sypfbxzz.1674-1293.20250206

Abstract：Objective This study aims to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of combining topical human epidermal growth factor(hEGF)and metronidazole gel in the treatment of rosacea..Methods A total of 120 patients with facial rosacea admitted to the Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University,First Affiliated Hospital of the Naval Military Medical University,and Naval Characteristic Medical Center between June 2023 and March 2024 were enrolled in this study.The patients were randomly divided into 3 groups,including control group 1(metronidazole gel;n=40),control group 2(topical hEGF;n=40)and combination therapy group(metronidazole gel in combination with hEGF;n=40).After an 8-week treatment period,the clinical efficacy was evaluated by comparing Physician's Global Assessment(PGA)scores,facial erythema scores,corneum water content,and Dermatology Life Quality Index(DLQI)scores before and after treatment.Four weeks after treatment completion,a follow-up was conducted to assess the recurrence rate among the three groups.Results After 8 weeks of treatment,the effective rate in the combination therapy group was 87.50%,significantly higher than that in control group 1(60.00%)and control group 2(62.50%)(P<0.05).The combination therapy group also demonstrated superior improvements in PGA scores,facial erythema scores,corneum water content,and DLQI scores compared with the two control groups,with statistically significant differences(all P<0.05).During the follow-up,the recurrence rate in the combination therapy group was 5.71%,significantly lower than that in control group 1(12.5%)and control group 2(20%)(all P<0.05).Conclusions Both metronidazole gel and topical hEGF exhibit clinical efficacy in the treatment of rosacea.However,the combination therapy yields superior efficacy,leading to significant alleviation of symptoms and inflammatory responses,as well as a lower recurrence rate compared with monotherapies.