{
  "id": "liquiritin",
  "idVersion": 1,
  "ingredient": "Liquiritin",
  "route": "topical",
  "grade": "limited",
  "gradeLabel": "Limited",
  "claim": "One small four-week split-face controlled trial in 20 women with epidermal melasma reported improvement with 1% liquiritin cream versus vehicle.",
  "caveat": "This is one small, short study. The PubMed record does not state randomization or blinding, and the study included no hydroquinone or kojic-acid comparator, so it cannot establish comparative tolerability.",
  "published": "2026-09-19",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10809983/",
      "journal": "Int J Dermatol",
      "year": 2000,
      "n": 20,
      "design": "Split-face controlled trial",
      "duration": "4 weeks",
      "percentages": [
        "1%"
      ],
      "outcome": "epidermal melasma pigmentation",
      "finding": "Twenty women with bilateral epidermal melasma used liquiritin cream on one side of the face and vehicle on the other twice daily for four weeks. The report describes improvement with 1% liquiritin, but the PubMed abstract does not state randomization or blinding and names no active comparator.",
      "formulation": "1% liquiritin cream"
    }
  ],
  "peopleReport": null
}