Daylight photodynamic therapy with 5-aminolevulinic acid 5% gel for the treatment of mild-to-moderate inflammatory acne

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease that frequently occurs in adolescence. This common condition is often treated with topical or systemic therapies according to severity. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical delta-aminolaevulinic acid is a novel drugsparing, but time-consuming approach. Recently, sunlight exposure has been considered a quicker, safer, cheaper and more agreeable alternative light source for PDT, but efficacy has only been proven in the oncological field. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of daylight PDT (DL-PDT) for the treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris of face, chest and trunk lesions. METHODS: Twenty patients with mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris were enrolled and treated with a topical gel based on 5% delta-aminolaevulinic acid, administered 4 times at 14-day intervals. Efficacy was assessed with mean lesion count, Physician Global Assessment (PGA), Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) and patients' self-assessment (10-point scale). RESULTS: Compared to T0, mean inflammatory lesions count decreased in all patients at FU1, from 16.7±4.4 to 5.2±3.3 (P). No adverse events were reported, and no patients were lost to follow-up. PGA results of "excellent" or "good" improvement were reported in 95% at T3 and 90% at FU1. Patients' self-assessments was 7.6±1.0 (T3). Discomfort was 0.5±0.2 (T3 and FU1). CONCLUSIONS: DL-PDT seems to be an effective and tolerable therapy for the treatment of mild-to-severe inflammatory acne. This novel regimen seems to be a viable option in the panorama of acne therapies.