Tazarotene vs. Adapalene for Facial Acne
Title: Tazarotene cream versus adapalene cream
in the treatment of facial acne vulgaris: a multicenter, double-blind,
randomized, parallel-group study.
Authors: Shalita et al.
Publication: J Drugs Dermatol. 2005 Mar-Apr;4(2):153-8.
In this study, 173 patients with facial acne vulgaris (or common
acne) was either given tazarotene 0.1% cream or adapalene 0.1%
cream for 12 weeks. The authors found that more patients given
tazarotene showed better improvement and had less lesion count
than those given adapalene.
The frequencies of most common side effects, such as dryness,
peeling or flaking, itching, redness, burning, and facial irritation,
are the same for tazarotene and adapalene, although the peeling
and burning levels were milder with adapalene. The authors concluded
that tazarotene cream was more effective than adapalene cream,
with similar tolerability.
