One-year topical stabilized retinol treatment improves photodamaged skin in a double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial.

Retinol, a precursor of retinoic acid, has great potentials as a topical anti-aging molecule; however, only a handful of clinical investigations have been published to date.This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of 0.1% stabilized retinol on photodamaged skin during a one-year treatment.The investigation included two 52-week, double-blind, vehicle-controlled studies. In the main study, 62 subjects applied either a stabilized retinol formulation or its vehicle to the full face. A second exploratory study evaluated histological/histochemical markers in 12 subjects after 52 weeks of either retinol or vehicle use on contralateral dorsal forearms.The retinol group showed significant photodamage improvement over vehicle at all timepoints during the study. After 52 weeks, retinol had improved crow's feet fine lines by 44%, and mottled pigmentation by 84%, with over 50% of subjects showing +2 grades of improvement in many parameters. Additionally, at week 52, histochemical data confirmed the clinical results, showing increased expression of type I procollagen, hyaluronan, and Ki67 as compared to vehicle.This study confirms that a stabilized retinol (0.1%) formulation can significantly improve the signs of photoaging, and improvements in photodamage continue with prolonged use.