Hiroshi Ikeno,
Ikeno Clinic of Dermatology & Dermatological Surgery, Japan
Title: Long maintenance therapy, more than 2 years of sodium L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate, for moderate to severe acne in comparison with 0.1% adapalene gel
Biography
Biography: Hiroshi Ikeno,
Abstract
Background: We have reported the efficacy of sodium 5% L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate lotion (5% APL) in the treatment of acne since 2003. APL shows the excellent effect for the prevention of oxidation of squalene, which was reported as a possible role of acne etiology and as a trigger of micro-comedo. While many effective treatments for acne have been reported recently, there are few reports regarding effective long maintenance therapy, more than 2 years, of acne. This time, we studied the efficacy and safety of 5% APL as maintenance therapy for moderate to severe acne in comparison with 0.1% adapalene gel (ADG). Methods: In a randomized, multi-center, open label, parallel study, 45 patients of moderate to severe acne, successfully treated in a previous 12-week study of the combination therapy with 5%APL plus 0.1%ADG, were enrolled. They were assigned to receive 5% APL (n=41) or 0.1%ADG (n =35) topically once or twice daily. This study was carried out in accordance with the method of D. Thiboutot et al. Efficacy was assessed in 5 grades at the beginning and at 2, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of treatment based on the skinanalysis device (VISIA). Patients were instructed to refrain from receiving any other treatment for 16 weeks prior to enrolment in the study. Results: The number of patients who complied with the treatment protocol was 16 on APL, 12 on ADG. The number of patients of who maintained at least 50% improvement from baseline in lesion counts at 6 months of treatment was 14 on APL and 9 on ADG, at 12 months of treatment, 15 on APL and 7 on ADG and at 24 months of treatment was 14 on APL and 4 on ADG. Both agents were well tolerable and showed no remarkable adverse effects. Conclusion: The maintenance rate at 12 months for APL was 93.8% compared with 58.3% in the ADG treatment group. The maintenance rate at 24 months for APL was 87.55% compared with 33.3% in the ADG treatment group. The efficacy of the maintenance therapy of APL was remarkably superior to ADG. This data showed the efficacy and safety of 5% APL as maintenance therapy for moderate to severe acne in comparison with 0.1% adapalene gel (ADG).