Retinoic Acid

Are you suffering from severe acne problems? Can you still hide your skin imperfections using makeup concealer or is it getting out of control?

Maintaining a fresh and youthful skin is one of the main priorities for every woman. Thousands of skin products are out there that will prevent skin damage and one of these products is retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is a chemical compound that comes from vitamin A and it is known to treat severe acne, warts, and psoriasis. It can also be used as an anti-aging agent to maintain the youthful skin 5. Retinoic acid is transformed into an active ingredient known as tretinoin. Tretinoin can be seen in facial creams or moisturizers and sell under the name retin A 3. Doctors also prescribed drugs that contain retinoic acid and it is transformed into active ingredient known as isotretinoin and sell under the name accutane 3.

So how does retinoic acid works?

In order for retinoic acid to work, it has to be absorbed in the skin at a cellular level 1. The compound functions as an antioxidant that help skin cells, by taking out the free radical compounds that affect aging and wrinkling to the skin 1. Retinoic acid also has the capability to build elastin and increase the amount of collagen that maintains the youthful structure of the skin 1. Elastin is a type of protein that helps the tissue to retain its shape after a high amount of stretching 6. On the other hand, retinoic acid treats acne by taking away the dead cells that cause clogging in the pores 5.

Like any other products, too much use of retinoic acid can cause a lot of bad things.

So what are the dangers caused by too much exposure to retinoic acid?

Bone metabolism2

Retinoic acid can cause bone degradation that will make the bone more spongy instead of being compact. There is about 4.4% bone degradation reported and premature bone formation due to too much exposure of skin to retinoic acid.

Embryo Malformation4

Retinoic acid can also be teratogenic as it can cause malformations to embryos. Pregnant women should use retinoic acid with caution and should not exceed the prescribed oral dose. Retinoic acid affects the Hox genes, which are responsible for forming the different parts of the body including central nervous system. Retinoic acid can cause spina bifida which is defined as incomplete development of spinal cord. The compound can also cause microcephaly (small head), larger head due to fluid build up, brain outside the skull (exencephaly), cleft palate and small ears (microtia).

References:

1Fallon B. (2016). The difference between retinol and retinoids you did not know.

New Beauty. Retrieved February 10, 2019 from https://www.newbeauty.com/hottopic/blogpost/9508-the-difference-between-retinol-and-retinoids/

2Kam, R. K., Deng, Y., Chen, Y., & Zhao, H. (2012). Retinoic acid synthesis and functions in early embryonic development. Cell & bioscience, 2(1), 11. doi:10.1186/2045-3701-2-11

3Palmer A.(2018). Difference between tropical tretinoin and oral isotretinoin. Very Well Health. Retrieved February 7, 2019 from https://www.verywellhealth.com/difference-between-tretinoin-and-isotretinoin-15647

4Retinoids as Teratogens. Embryo Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 9, 2019 from

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/retinoids-teratogens

5 Retinoid treatment and Your skin. WebMd.Retrieved February 9, 2019 from  ttps://www.webmd.com/beauty/retinoid-gel-and-cream-treatments#2  

6 Shewry, P., Tatham, A., & Bailey, A. (2003). Elastin as a Self-Assembling Biomaterial. In Elastomeric Proteins (pp. 39–53). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511546327.005