A comparative study of topical retinoids tretinoin-0.04% and adapalene - 0.1% in acne grade 1 and grade 2

Acne is a chronic, self-limiting inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous unit. It is multifactorial, of which Propioniobacterium acne and Sebum play an important role in etiopathogenesis. The aim of the study is to compare efficacy of Tretinoin and Adapalene in Acne Vulgaris and to compare the side effects of topical tretinoin and adapalene. Randomized prospective comparative clinical trial with sample size of 50 patients who are recruited from department of dermatology of MMCH&RI. Adapalene 0. 1% produced numerically greater lesion reduction than tretinoin 0. 04% for all lesion types. Thus, Adapalene was found superior to Tretinoin in reducing average number of lesions. Highest reduction in number of lesions with both topical retinoids was for comedones (p< 0. 001) followed by papules (p<0. 00) and pustule (p= 0.001). In Patients who applied adapalene, most of them were reduced to grade 0 and grade I and only few were in grade II. Whereas in patients who applied tretinoin only few were reduced to grade 0 and many were in grade I and grade II. Side effects were more commonly seen in patient treated with topical Tretinoin than with topical Adapalene. Adapalene was better tolerated than tretinoin. Hence adapalene is a safe and effective in treatment of acne.