Excessive sebum production promotes acne development. Tazarotene, 0.045% lotion, has been shown to reduce acne lesions and acne-induced sequelae.

The present study, thus evaluated the efficacy, changes in skin oiliness and safety of tazarotene 0.045% lotion in participants with moderate to severe acne and oily skin.

It enrolled participants aged ≥9 years with moderate to severe acne and randomized them 1:1 to once-daily tazarotene 0.045% lotion or vehicle lotion (n = 1,614). The study evaluated inflammatory/noninflammatory lesion counts, treatment success, skin oiliness, treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and cutaneous safety/tolerability. It observed:

• Tazarotene provided greater reductions in inflammatory/noninflammatory lesions and greater treatment success rates versus vehicle at week 12 in all participants with oily skin (n = 793).
• Subjective skin oiliness reductions by week 12 in over two-thirds of polymeric lotion-treated participants, and about a third reported ′low/not′ oily skin.
• TEAE rates of tazarotene to be similar to the overall population.

This study shows that once-daily treatment with tazarotene 0.045% polymeric emulsion lotion may improve patient-perceived skin oiliness in people with moderate-to-severe acne.

Source: Tanghetti EA, Zeichner JA, Gold M, et al. Improvements in acne and skin oiliness with tazarotene 0.045% lotion in patients with oily skin. J Dermatolog Treat. 2022 Nov 16:1-22.