Background/objective: Terpenoids demonstrate pharmacologic activities that address important mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of several cutaneous diseases. This review evaluated clinical trials of dermatology-specific terpenoid-based treatments.
Methods: PubMed and EMBASE were reviewed on July 8, 2014. Two independent reviewers reviewed studies for inclusion and extracted data for studies meeting eligibility criteria. References were manually reviewed for potentially relevant studies.
Results: The search yielded 437 unique abstracts, of which 13 met inclusion and exclusion criteria. High-quality evidence suggests that ingenol mebutate may be effective in treating actinic keratosis. Limited available evidence indicates that terpenoids may benefit patients with nonmelanoma skin cancers, cutaneous candidiasis, hyperpigmentation, photoaging, and wounds.
Conclusions: Terpenoids appear to be effective in treating specific dermatologic conditions. However, additional rigorously conducted clinical trials are needed to better ascertain efficacy.