We have investigated the clinical response of 12 patients with erythrodermic psoriasis to therapy with etretinate. Initial dosage of etretinate was 20-60mg/day. The time for complete disappearance of scales averaged 19.9 days. In 10 of 12 patients(83.3%) satisfactory results were obtained after 2 to 11 months of treatment. Cheilitis was the most common side effect. Three patients had mild elevation of blood lipids, which was corrected by dose reduction. Remission period, of ten patients who showed good result, averaged 4.2 months.
Acitretin* ; Cheilitis ; Etretinate* ; Humans ; Psoriasis* ; Weights and Measures

The authors studied the plasma cholesterol levels in 39 rats (Sprague-Dawley) after 4 weeks administration of etretinate and/or fish oil. The study groups were as follows.'13 rats recieved etretinate only;13, fish oil only;13, both ertetinate and fish oil. Cholesterol levels were determined by standard enzymatic methodology. The results were as follows. Tot,al-cholesterol levels in rats following administration of ertetinate only were increased(p<0.05), but the levels in rats receiving fish oil only and both etretinate and fish oil were markedly decreased(p<0.01). HDL-cholesterol levels in rats following administration of fish oil and both etretinate and fish oil were decreased(p<0.01). The ratio of HDL-cholesterol to total-cholesterol in rats receiving fish oil only and both etretinate and fish oil were increased(p<0.05) because of markedly decreased total-cholesterol levels.
Acitretin* ; Animals ; Cholesterol* ; Etretinate* ; Plasma* ; Rats*

Etretinate, an effective retinoid in the treatment of pustular, erythrodermic and chronic plaque type psoriasis, has the disadvantage of a long terminal elimination half-life. On the other hand, acitretin, the active metabolite of etretinate, has much shorter terminal elimination half-life and is being reported as an agent with good antipsoriatic activity by several authors. To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acitret.in in comparison with etretinate, we treated 10 patients wit,h acitretin at a dose of 30mg per day and 11 patients with etretinate at a same dose for 12 weeks. The PASI score at 12 week was significantly reduced in each group as compared with baseline PASI score. In the acitretin treated group the initial PASI score of 14.5 reduced to 3.9, while the etretinate group PASI score reduced from 12.0 to 3.1. The PASI score differ ences between the acitretin and etretinate groups at each time during therapy and the end of therapy were not statistically significant. The severity of adverse reactions with acitretin was similar to those with etretinate but their incidence was higher. The change in laboratory parameters in the acitretin group was simlar to that of the etretinate group. In view of these results and the known pharmacokinetic advantage of acitretin, that is the short terminal elimination half-life, it is conceivable that acitretin may be a useful alternative to etretinate in the treatment of psoriasis.
Acitretin* ; Etretinate* ; Half-Life ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Psoriasis*

We report a case of Dariers disease which showed a more effective result using a combined treatment with oral etretinate and topical tretinoin cream than treatment with oral etretinate alone in a 17-year old male patient. Oral etretinate 40mg was given daily and topical therapy with tretinoin cream was applied to lesions of neck and face. Two weeks later, lesions of neck and face showed good improvement compared with the not applied lesions. Topical therapy was then extended to other lesions. Six weeks after treatment, there was a marked improvement. Three months after treatment, most of lesions were nearly gon.
Acitretin* ; Adolescent ; Darier Disease ; Etretinate* ; Humans ; Male ; Neck ; Tretinoin*

Vesiculobullous Darier's disease is a rare variant of Darier's disease which is characterized by vesicles and bullae, usually distributed on the sun-exposed areas of the body. Blistering may be percipitated by factors such as high humidity, ultraviolet radiation, etretinate treatment, surgery or physical stress. Widespread vesiculation or bullous lesions are unusual in the absence of cutaneous bacterial or viral infections. Herein, we report an unusual case of vesiculobullous Darier's disease which developed on the scalp in a 25-year-old man.
Acitretin ; Adult ; Blister ; Darier Disease ; Etretinate ; Humans ; Humidity ; Scalp

Linear porokeratosis is a rare variant of porokeratosis and usually occurs in childhood. A 37-year-old female is presented with linear porokeratosis on the posterior aspeet of the right lower extremity exhibiting the classical histopathologic criteria of the disease. Treatment with an oral etretinate resulted in a remission of the lesions.
Acitretin ; Adult ; Etretinate ; Female ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Porokeratosis*

Generalized pustular psoriasis is a lethal variant of psoriasis characterized by the appearance of sterile pustules on psoriatic skin. Etretinate and acitretin are effective in pustular forms of psoriasis, including generalized pustular psoriasis. A major concern with the use of systemic retinoid is their high teratogenic potential. Since etretinate and acitretin are remetabolized into long-lived compounds, isotretinoin may be used to treat women of childbearing years with generalized pustular psoriasis. We report a case of generalized pustular psoriasis in a 28-year-old woman whose condition was improved with isotretinoin. Clinical improvement was noted with the administration of isotretinoin at the dose of 30mg/day.
Acitretin ; Adult ; Etretinate ; Female ; Humans ; Isotretinoin* ; Psoriasis* ; Skin

Impetigo herpetiformis is a rare and severe pustular disorder which primarily occurs in pregnancy. Etretinate and acitretin are effective in impetigo herpetiformis with systemic steroid. A major concern with the use of systemic retinoids is their high teratogenic potential. Isotretinoin is another retinoid but its teratogenic potential lasts only for two months. Hence, isotretinoin may be used to treat women of childbearing years with impetigo herpetiformis. We report a case of impetigo herpetiformis in a 26-year-old woman whose condition was improved with isotretinoin.
Acitretin ; Adult ; Etretinate ; Female ; Humans ; Impetigo ; Isotretinoin ; Pregnancy ; Retinoids

Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis(CRP) is a rare dermatosis. The lesions are hyperkeratotic, verrucous papules and plaques, resulting in a confluence of lesions centrally and a reticulated pattern at the periphery. It is more common in women and during puberty. The histopathological findings show papillomatosis, hyperkeratosis and a sparse superficial perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate. We report a case of CRP that responded to oral etretinate in an 18-year-old man.
Acitretin* ; Adolescent ; Etretinate* ; Female ; Humans ; Papilloma* ; Puberty ; Skin Diseases

Porokeratosis is a disorder of epidermal keratinization that is histologically characterized by the presence of cornoid lamella. Many treatment modalities have been used, such as, surgical excision, cryosurgery, CO2 laser, oral etretinate, topical 5-fluorouracil and keratolytics. However, universal treatment guidelines have never been established. We tried 5% imiquimod cream on three patients who have porokeratosis of Mibelli which are intractable to other previous treatment modalities. Two of them showed a marked and moderate improvement, respectively. But the third patient exhibited only slight response. Herein we report our treatment experience and review the related literature.
Acitretin ; Cryosurgery ; Etretinate ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Lasers, Gas ; Porokeratosis*