title: Arotinoid Ro 13-6298 and etretin: two new retinoids inferior to isotretinoin in sebum suppression and acne treatment.
abstract: Thirty patients have been treated with either etretin, the main derivative of etretinate, or arotinoid Ro 13-6298, a polyaromatic retinoid, or isotretinoin. Sebum production was measured before and during the treatments. While no change was observed in the patients treated with etretin, a reduction of 33% of the sebum excretion rate was observed for those treated with arotinoid Ro 13-6298 but only after long treatment periods of 20 to 30 weeks. The sebum excretion rate decreased by 92% in the patients treated with isotretinoin. Four patients suffering from severe nodulocystic acne were treated with arotinoid Ro 13-6298 for 2-5 months without improvement. Substantial improvement, however, resulted after a subsequent treatment with isotretinoin; sebum production decreased markedly as well. This study suggests that neither etretin nor arotinoid Ro 13-6298 will replace isotretinoin in the treatment of severe nodulocystic acne.
mesh_terms: D017255:Acitretin; D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001565:Benzoates / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015474:Isotretinoin; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012176:Retinoids; D012629:Sebum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001565:Benzoates; D012176:Retinoids; D014212:Tretinoin; C034814:ethyl-p-((E)-2-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthyl)-1-propenyl)benzoic acid; D015474:Isotretinoin; D017255:Acitretin