Comparison of the efficacy and safety of 0.1% adapalene gel and 0.025% tretinoin cream in the treatment of childhood acanthosis nigricans

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There have been few published randomized controlled trials for the treatment of childhood acanthosis nigricans (AN) to date. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of topical 0.1% adapalene gel compared to 0.025% tretinoin cream in the treatment of childhood AN. METHODS: An 8-week, randomized, split-neck, comparative study between topical 0.1% adapalene gel and 0.025% tretinoin cream for the treatment of neck hyperpigmentation associated with AN was performed. M index measured by a narrowband reflectance spectrophotometer and both investigator's global evaluation (IGE) and parent's global evaluation (PGE) scales were used to evaluate efficacy. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between 0.1% adapalene gel and 0.025% tretinoin cream in the treatment of AN-associated hyperpigmentation (P = 0.56). Mean differences in M indices between week 0 and week 8 of 0.1% adapalene and 0.025% tretinoin treatment were 24.2 ± 7.9% and 23.8 ± 8.3% improvement, respectively. Regarding treatment efficacy, 90.0% and 85.0% of participants had more than 75% improvement in IGE in 0.1% adapalene and 0.025% tretinoin treatment sides, respectively. In addition, 75.0% and 65.0% of participants had more than 75.0% improvement in PGE in 0.1% adapalene and 0.025% tretinoin treatment sides, respectively. LIMITATIONS: Lack of histopathological evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: We found no significant difference between topical 0.1% adapalene gel and 0.025% tretinoin in the treatment of AN.