Comparative effect of short-term topical tretinoin and glycolic acid on mechanical properties of photodamaged facial skin in HRT-treated menopausal women.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Cutaneous intrinsic ageing has been shown to be improved by hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Photoageing is, however, unresponsive to such treatment. The present double-blind study was undertaken to compare the beneficial effect of a 1-month topical treatment with 0.05% all-trans-retinoic acid or 6% glycolic acid.

METHOD

Biomechanical properties were measured on facial skin of HRT-treated menopausal women using both topical products on the hemifaces for 1 month.

RESULTS

Skin elasticity proved to be significantly higher at the tretinoin-treated site than at the glycolic acid-treated site.

CONCLUSION

Objective non-invasive measurements of the biomechanical properties of facial skin show the superiority of retinoic acid over glycolic acid in improving a deleterious effect of ageing.