Wrinkles and Retin-A.

Wrinkles and Retin-A

Tretinoin (brand name Retin-A) -- the prescription anti-acne ointment that appears to reverse signs of skin aging -- reduces wrinkles, softens skin and lightens pigment spots for at least 16 months in patients who continue using the cream, researchers report.

"What we find in general is that the longer we go, the more improvement we get," says John Voorhees, chairman of the department of dermatology at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Voorhees coauthored the original, widely reported, four-month study in the Jan. 22 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, in which Retin-A use was associated with "significant improvement" in sun-damaged or "photoaged" skin (SN: 1/30/88, p.71). He and other researchers presented new data last week in Philadelphia at a conference on skin aging at Jefferson Medical College.

So far, Voorhees says, the most serious side effect is transient skin irritation, which usually subsides "after a couple of weeks." Long-term toxicity, however, has yet to be determined. Also unknown: how the cream works, what the minimum effective dose is, how long the benefits may last after treatment stops and whether the drug helps prevent skin cancer.