The treatment of visible signs of senescence: the Italian experience.
An open clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the anti-photoageing efficacy of topical tretinoin. A length of cream of approximately 1 cm was applied to the face daily in the evening for 6 months: during month 1 of therapy 0.01% tretinoin cream was administered; 0.025% was given during month 2; and 0.05% was given in months 3-6. The clinical symptoms of photoageing (coarse wrinkling, fine wrinkling, skin thinning, mottled hyperpigmentation, laxity and xerosis) were evaluated before and after therapy. A total of 19.1% of patients withdrew from the study; only 5.6% were for treatment-related reasons. At the end of the treatment period all the clinical parameters, except xerosis, were improved. The amount of improvement varied, but only 4.2% of patients failed to show any improvement. Tolerability was excellent in 51.4% of patients, good in 44.4% and fair in 4.2%, and compliance was excellent in 47.0% of patients, good in 48.5% and fair in 4.5%. Tolerability and compliance were improved by applying the same amount of cream each day but increasing the concentration of tretinoin over the 6-month period. Silicone skin replicas of the same area of skin taken before and after treatment, analysed by scanning electron microscopy, profilometry and computer image analysis, showed a decrease in the width of wrinkles, and an improvement in skin texture and follicle density.
Department of Dermatology, University of Milan, Italy.
R
R
Caputo
M
M
Monti
S
S
Motta
M
M
Barbareschi
A
A
Tosti
R
R
Serri
C
C
Rigoni
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D012867:Skin / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000187:drug effects*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D014212:Tretinoin