Immune responses to topical emollient therapy with sunflower seed oil in young children with severe acute malnutrition in Bangladesh: a randomized controlled trial

This is the first study to investigate whether topical therapy with sunflower seed oil (SSO) influences systemic immune responses in children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) undergoing standard acute nutritional rehabilitation. We found no significant changes in systemic cytokine levels attributable to 10 days of SSO treatment. Previous studies have shown that emollient therapy improves skin barrier integrity and function and reduces infection risk; this study underscores the need for further research (e.g., larger samples size, longer duration of treatment) into the immune response in malnourished children and how interventions like nutritional rehabilitation and emollient therapy interact with systemic inflammation.