title: A comparative study of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid incubation times in photodynamic therapy with intense pulsed light for the treatment of inflammatory acne.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Dong Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Eun Chun
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kwang Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ju Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid