SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Topical dapsone gel 5% is a particularly advantageous acne treatment in adult women, according to Dr. Valerie D. Callender.
A gender difference in outcomes with the therapy has become apparent, with women faring significantly better than men in terms of lesion count reductions and acne clearance rates, she said at the World Congress of Dermatology.
Dr. Valerie D. Callender
Dr. Callender cited a meta-analysis of clinical trial data presented last year at the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas by Dr. Julie Harper (of the University of Alabama, Birmingham). Among 2,898 acne patients aged older than 12 years, roughly equally divided into men and women, 12 weeks of daily treatment with topical dapsone gel 5% (Aczone) resulted in an overall mean 48% reduction in inflammatory lesions and a 32% decrease in noninflammatory lesions. Forty-one percent of dapsone-treated patients had no or minimal acne after 12 weeks, compared with 33% of subjects randomized to a vehicle.
At each of the biweekly patient assessments conducted during the 12-week study, dapsone-treated women had significantly greater reductions in both inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions than did men. At 12 weeks, women on dapsone gel had an absolute 7.6% greater reduction in inflammatory acne lesions and a 10.7% greater absolute decrease in noninflammatory lesions than did men. The total lesion count after 12 weeks of topical dapsone, compared with baseline, was an absolute 9.7% less in women than in men.
Side effects, mostly application site dryness or redness, didn't differ between men and women.
Topical dapsone gel is a sulfone antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties. It is not clear exactly how it works in the treatment of acne. In vitro studies suggest dapsone may suppress neutrophil recruitment and inhibit generation of oxygen free radicals, according to Dr. Callender, a dermatologist at Howard University, Washington.
She disclosed that she serves as a clinical researcher, consultant, and/or speaker for Allergan, which markets topical dapsone, as well as for Coria, Galderma, Medicis, and Stiefel.