title: A Topical Medication of All-Trans Retinoic Acid Reduces Sebum Excretion Rate in Patients With Forehead Acne.
abstract: Acne is a disease of the hair follicles of the face, chest, and back that affects almost all teenagers during puberty. This study is conducted to investigate if all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) could reduce sebum excretion rate (SER) in acne patients by influencing content of skin-surface lipid production. Thirty-nine patients with forehead acne were topically treated with cream base (vehicle) and 0.025% ATRA cream once a night for 7 days. Separation and identification of sebum production collected from the skin on the acne were performed using thin-layer chromatography. SER was calculated according to the total amount of individual sebum productions that were quantified by using Alphaimager IS-2200 imaging analysis. Our data showed that the value of SER on the acne-affected skin was significantly decreased in the ATRA-treated patients as compared with ones treated with vehicle (P < 0.01). Treatment with ATRA resulted in inducing significant decreases in the contents of wax esters (WE), triglycerides and fatty acids, and free fatty acids (FFA) productions (all P < 0.01). In further analysis, the changes in the data before and after treatments with vehicle and ATRA were compared with significant differences exhibited in the values of SER, WE, and FFA (all P < 0.05). This study indicates that the topical application of ATRA in treatment of acne patients induces decrease in SER by inhibiting the excretion of WE and FFA productions.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China; 2Department of Bone Tissue Engineering Lab, Beijing Traumatology and Orthopedics Research Institute, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China; and 3Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tu
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004952:Esters / Q000032:analysis; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005546:Forehead; D006801:Humans; D007641:Keratolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D012629:Sebum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000032:analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007641:Keratolytic Agents; D014280:Triglycerides; D014212:Tretinoin