What is the Difference Between Adapalene and Tretinoin

The key difference between adapalene and tretinoin is that adapalene shows a low anti-acne efficacy compared to tretinoin.

Adapalene and tretinoin are important as medications for acne in our skin. However, the activity of each medicine differs from each other depending on their efficiency in treating acne.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Adapalene
3. What is Tretinoin
4. Adapalene vs Tretinoin in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Adapalene vs Tretinoin

What is Adapalene?

Adapalene is a type of topical retinoid that is useful in treating mild to moderate acne and can be used as an off-label medicine to treat keratosis pilaris and some other skin conditions. This medicine is considered to be the least effective medicine among other topical retinoids we use to treat acne vulgaris. However, it has some advantages over retinoids as it is more stable and can lead to fewer concerns towards photodegradation. Further, this compound is more chemically stable and usually is used as a first-line agent.

Figure 01: Chemical Structure of Adapalene

The trade names for adapalene include Differin, Pimpal, Gallet, Adelene, and Adeferin. Its bioavailability is very low and its excretion occurs through bile. The chemical formula for adapalene is C28H28O3 and the molar mass is 412.52 g/mol.

The most common side effects of adapalene include photosensitivity, irritation, redness, dryness, itching, and burning. These are mild and common side effects that tend to decrease over time. Severe allergic reactions are rare for this medicine.

What is Tretinoin?

Tretinoin is a medicine that is important in treating acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. We can name it all-trans retinoic acid or ATRA as well. In the treatment of acne, we can directly apply this medication to the skin in the form of a cream, gel, or ointment. In the treatment of leukemia, we need to take this medicine orally for about three months. The chemical formula of tretinoin is C20H28O2. The molar mass of this substance is 300.44 g/mol.

Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Tretinoin

Tretinoin medicine has some common side effects, including redness of the skin, peeling, and sun sensitivity when it is applied to the skin. The common side effects of tretinoin, when taken orally, include shortness of breath, headache, numbness, depression, skin dryness, vomiting, etc.

Usually, his medication has less stability in the presence of light and oxidizing agents. When 10% of benzyl peroxide and light combine with tretinoin, it can cause more than 50% degradation of tretinoin in about 2 hours. In 24 hours, it can give us a 95% degradation of tretinoin. This instability has led tretinoin to undergo developments to reduce this degradation, e.g. microencapsulated tretinoin can be exposed to benzyl peroxide and light upon less than 1% degradation of tretinoin that takes place in about 4 hours

What is the Difference Between Adapalene and Tretinoin?

Adapalene is a type of topical retinoid that is useful in treating mild to moderate acne and can be used as an off-label medicine to treat keratosis pilaris and some other skin conditions. Tretinoin is a medicine that is important in treating acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. The key difference between adapalene and tretinoin is that adapalene shows a low anti-acne efficacy compared to tretinoin.

The following table lists the differences between adapalene and tretinoin for side by side comparison.

Summary – Adapalene vs Tretinoin

Adapalene is a type of topical retinoid that is useful in treating mild to moderate acne and is useful as an off-label medicine to treat keratosis pilaris and some other skin conditions. Tretinoin is a medicine that is important in treating acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. The key difference between adapalene and tretinoin is that adapalene shows a low anti-acne efficacy compared to that of tretinoin.

Reference:

1. “Adapalene (Differin) vs Tretinoin: Which Is More Effective?” Hims.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Adapalene structure” By Vaccinationist – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Tretinoin structure” By Vaccinationist – PubChem (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia