A comparative study of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid incubation times in photodynamic therapy with intense pulsed light for the treatment of inflammatory acne.
BACKGROUND
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is used for effective treatment of facial acne vulgaris.


OBJECTIVE
To determine which of two different incubation times (30 minutes and 3 hours) is more effective in PDT with intense pulsed light (IPL) for acne vulgaris.


METHODS
Twenty Korean subjects with moderate to severe acne were enrolled for a randomized, half-facial treatment study. Three sessions with short incubation with ALA plus IPL (30 minutes, n=9) or long incubation with ALA plus IPL (3 hours, n=11) on one side of the face and IPL alone on the other side were performed at 1-month intervals.


RESULTS
All subjects showed improvement in inflammatory acne lesions after three sessions of ALA-PDT or IPL alone (p<.001 in all groups). The degree of improvement in inflammatory acne lesions was greater in the long incubation time group than the short incubation time group or the IPL-alone group, although the mean reduction of inflammatory acne lesions was statistically different only between the long incubation group and the IPL-only group (p=.01). There were no statistical differences between the short incubation group and IPL-alone group. All three groups had decreased sebum secretion after three sessions (p<.001 in all groups), but the differences between groups were not statistically significant. Only transient erythema and mild edema were reported for all treatment groups.


CONCLUSIONS
PDT with a long ALA incubation time might be more adequate for a pronounced outcome with inflammatory acne.
Oh
Sang Ho
SH
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ryu
Dong Jin
DJ
Han
Eun Chun
EC
Lee
Kwang Hoon
KH
Lee
Ju Hee
JH
D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid