Background: Acanthosis nigricans is characterized as hyperpigmented skin and velvety surface on posterior and lateral folds of the neck and the intertriginous areas. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of topical 10% urea cream compared to 0.025% tretinoin cream in the treatment of acanthosis nigricans.
Material and methods: This was an 8-week trial, double-blind, randomized, comparative study of topical 10% urea and 0.025% tretinoin for the treatment of the neck hyperpigmentation. The Mexameter MX18 was used for assessing treatment efficacy. The global evaluation scale was also used to evaluate the overall success rate at weeks 2, 4, and 8 of the study.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference between 10% urea and 0.025% tretinoin in the treatment of acanthosis nigricans (p < 0.01). The efficacy of 10% urea and 0.025% tretinoin treatment shows 11.4 ± 5.7% and 20.1 ± 9.7% improvement, respectively. The treatment efficacy using the investigator's global evaluation found that 36.8% of participants treated with 10% urea and 63.2% of participants treated with 0.025% tretinoin had more than 75% skin improvement.
Conclusion: Both medications significantly improved neck hyperpigmentation. However, the efficacy of 0.025% tretinoin was significantly better than 10% urea in the treatment of acanthosis nigricans.
Clinical trials registry: TCTR20180703003.
Keywords: Acanthosis nigricans; topical retinoid; tretinoin; urea.