The Efficacy of Topical Cyproterone Acetate Alcohol Lotion Versus Placebo in the Treatment of the Mild to Moderate Acne Vulgaris: A Double Blind Study Pubmed



Iraji F¹ ; Momeni A² ; Naji SM² ; Siadat AH³ Show Affiliations
Source: Dermatology Online Journal Published:2006

Abstract

Acne is an inflammatory condition of the pilosebaceous unit. One of the essential factors for development of acne lesions is increased sebum excretion that is promoted by androgen. It is shown that oral cyproterone acetate significantly reduces the sebum excretion. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of cyproterone acetate alcohol lotion (CAAL) in the treatment of the mild to moderate acne vulgaris. This was a randomized double-blind clinical trial performed on 86 female patients with mild to moderate acne. They were randomly divided into 3 groups and were treated with 0.5 percent CAAL (n = 30), 1 percent CAAL (n = 13) and placebo (n = 43). They were followed every 15 days for a period of 45 days. Response to treatment was evaluated by the total acne lesions counting (TLC) and acne severity index (ASI) and was analyzed statistically by SPSS program. The efficacy of treatment on TLC was maximum for 1 percent CAAL (90 % reduction in TLC)(P value = 0.000). CAAL at 0.5 percent was able to reduce TLC as high as 80.8 percent during 6 weeks followup. The efficacy of placebo was determined to be 38.5 percent. Regarding TLC, 1 percent CAAL was 2.33 times more effective than placebo. CAAL at 0.5 percent was 2.09 times more effective than placebo in this respect. The efficacy of treatment on ASI was maximum for 1 percent CAAL (88 % reduction in ASI)(P value = 0.000). CAAL at 0.5 percent reduced ASI as much as 79.5 percent during 6 weeks of followup. The efficacy of placebo was calculated to be 9.8 percent in reduction of ASI. Regarding ASI, 1 percent CAAL was 8.97 times more effective than placebo. CAAL at 0.5 percent was 8.06 times more effective than placebo. Regarding the results of this study, we suggest the use of cyproterone acetate alcohol lotion as one of the main treatments for mild-moderate acne in female patients and as an adjuvant treatment for moderate to severe acne vulgaris. © 2006 Dermatology Online Journal.