Effect of Dapsone Gel 7.5% Compared to Tazarotene Gel 0.1% for Treatment of Acne Vulgaris

Background: Dapsone 7.5% gel was well tolerated, with a low incidence of treatment-related adverse events, with the majority of adverse events being  related to topical application and mild or moderate in severity.Tazarotene helps to normalize the abnormal keratinization in the follicular infundibulum and changes the microenvironment of the follicle to reduce the proliferation of P. acnes. The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy and safety of dapsone gel 7.5% in relation to tazarotene gel 0.1% in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Methods: This study included 38 patients with different grades of AV, of different sexes and their ages ≥ 12 years, the patients were randomly selected from the outpatients clinics. Provided that the patients had not received any topical or systemic treatment for AV during  the previous 2 weeks. A base line evaluation of the severity of acne was done by GAAS and lesional photography for each patient before the start of treatment with topical dapsone and tazarotene,then follow up at 2,4,8,12 weeks of treatment. Results: There is statistically significant difference between dapsone and tazarotene in side effects after treatment as 71.1% of the studied patients didn’t complain of any side effects after dapsone while only 18.4 % of the studied patients had no side effects after tazarotene. The response to treatment with dapsone on the right side and tazarotene on the left side among the studied acne patients showed mild improvement occured in 28.9% after dapsone and occured in 15.8 % after tazarotene treatment, with no significant difference between both drugs. Conclusions:  Dapsone 7.5% gel is a successful, effective and safe alternative in the treatment of acne vulgaris with insignificant side effects.