Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety
Open accessAbstract
Aging of skin is an intricate biological process consisting of two types. While intrinsic or chronological aging is an inevitable process, photoaging involves the premature aging of skin occurring due to cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Chronological and photoaging both have clinically differentiable manifestations. Various natural and synthetic retinoids have been explored for the treatment of aging and many of them have shown histological and clinical improvement, but most of the studies have been carried out in patients presenting with photoaged skin. Amongst the retinoids, tretinoin possibly is the most potent and certainly the most widely investigated retinoid for photoaging therapy. Although retinoids show promise in the treatment of skin aging, irritant reactions such as burning, scaling or dermatitis associated with retinoid therapy limit their acceptance by patients. This problem is more prominent with tretinoin and tazarotene whereas other retinoids mainly represented by retinaldehyde and retinol are considerably less irritating. In order to minimize these side effects, various novel drug delivery systems have been developed. In particular, nanoparticles have shown a good potential in improving the stability, tolerability and efficacy ofretinoids like tretinoin and retinol. However, more elaborate clinical studies are required to confirm their advantage in the delivery of topical retinoids.
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Retinol is known to induce skin irritation, erythema, and dryness, requiring careful control of concentration and frequency of use, which limits its long-term and high-dose application.
“Retinol, a representative anti-aging compound, is known to induce skin irritation, erythema, and dryness, requiring careful control of concentration and frequency of use, which limits its long-term and high-dose application [27].”
From Anti-Photoaging and Anti-Melanogenic Effects of a Novel <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i> RKBP Isolated from Giant <i>Centella asiatica</i> (2026) · cites this paper as [27]
The Retinol and Adverse effects of topical retinoids sections report that retinol can cause erythema and irritation, but emphasize that it is less irritating than tretinoin. Counteracting the adverse effects advises reducing application frequency or discontinuing retinoids if even the lowest concentration is intolerable; the copy does not establish that retinol-induced dryness limits long-term or high-dose use. Page numbers were not available in the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredRetinoids have robust evidence of efficacy but are accompanied by several adverse effects such as pruritus, erythema, peeling, and photosensitization.
“Concerning photoaging, retinoids have been a mainstay and although there is indeed robust evidence of its efficacy, it is also true that it is accompanied by several adverse effects such as pruritus, er -ythema, peeling, and photosensitization.”
From Efficacy of topical vitamin C in melasma and photoaging: A systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as [21]
Retinoid receptor binding leads to increased epidermal proliferation, epidermal thickening, stratum corneum compaction, glycosaminoglycan synthesis/deposition, and increased collagen production.
“This leads to increased epidermal proliferation, leading to epidermal thickening, compaction of the stratum corneum, synthesis and deposition of glycosaminoglycans, and increased collagen production [61, 67].”
From Sunscreens and Photoaging: A Review of Current Literature (2021) · cites this paper as [67]
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References 111 · Cited by 580
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Patravale VB Shah K 2005 Solid lipid nanoparticles based tretinoin gels using novel solvent emulsification-diffusion approach (abstract P-39) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Advances in Technology and Business Potential of Novel Drug Delivery Systems 6 55
- Authors
- Mukherjee, S., Date, A., Patravale, V., Korting, H. C., Roeder, A., & Weindl, G.
- Affiliations
- Bombay College of Pharmacy (IN)
- Piramal (India) (IN)
- Institute of Chemical Technology (IN)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Roeder, Alexander
- Venue
- Clinical Interventions in Aging
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 327-348
- ISSN
- 1176-9092 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2699641
- OpenAlex
- W2141973975
- Cited by
- 580
- References
- 111
- Citations by year
- 2026: 65 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 0.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical Interventions in Aging (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Skin Protection and Aging
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Advancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Dermatologic Treatments and Research
- Keywords
- retinoids, skin aging, photoaging, chronological aging, all-trans retinoic acid, tazarotene, retinol, retinal, topical retinoids, drug delivery systems, nanoparticles, skin irritation, ultraviolet radiation
- MeSH terms
- Adapalene, Dermatologic Agents, Epidermis, Humans, Naphthalenes, Nicotinic Acids, Retinaldehyde, Retinoids, Tretinoin, Vitamin A Deficiency, Skin Aging, Treatment Outcome, Dermis
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