Retinoids, 585-nm laser, and carbon dioxide laser: a numeric comparison of neocollagen formation in photoaged hairless mouse skin.
BACKGROUND
A variety of new methods for treating photoaging have been recently introduced. There has been increasing interest in comparing the relative efficacy of multiple methods for photoaging. However, the efficacy of a single method is difficult to assess from the data reported in the literature.


METHODS
Photoaged hairless mice were randomly divided into seven treatment groups: control, retinoids (tretinoin and adapalene), lasers (585 nm and CO(2)), and combination groups (585 nm + adapalene and CO(2 )+ adapalene). Biopsies were taken from the treated regions, and the results were analyzed based on the repair zone. The repair zones of the various methods for photoaging were compared.


RESULTS
Retinoids produced a wider repair zone than the control condition. The 585-nm and CO(2) laser resurfacing produced a result equivalent to that of the control condition. A combination of these lasers with adapalene produced a wider repair zone than the lasers alone, but the combination produced a result equivalent to that of adapalene alone.


CONCLUSIONS
Retinoids are potent stimuli for neocollagen formation. The 585-nm or CO(2) laser alone did not induce more neocollagen than the control condition. In addition, no synergistic effect was observed with the combination treatments. The repair zone of the combination treatment is mainly attributable to adapalene.
Lee
C J
CJ
Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. cjlee313@hotmail.com
Park
J H
JH
Ciesielski
T E
TE
Thomson
J G
JG
Persing
J A
JA
D000068816:Adapalene; D000818:Animals; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D054020:Lasers, Gas / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use; D028022:Low-Level Light Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008812:Mice, Hairless; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011336:Probability; D011897:Random Allocation; D012016:Reference Values; D012176:Retinoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D009281:Naphthalenes; D012176:Retinoids; D000068816:Adapalene; D003094:Collagen