For the treatment of acute cutaneous inflammation,
predominantly topical corticosteroids are used. In chronic
inflammatory frequently relapsing skin conditions,
long-term treatment with corticosteroids bears the risk of
adverse events like skin atrophy, teleangiectasia and dyspigmentation.
Therefore, there is a need for topical preparations
containing active ingredients with a comparative
anti-inflammatory potential but without the side effects
of corticosteroids. On this background there is an
increasing scientific interest for herbal ingredients as
anti-inflammatory agents.