Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 26, 2021; 9(18): 4681-4689
Published online Jun 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i18.4681
Clinical outcomes and 5-year follow-up results of keratosis pilaris treated by a high concentration of glycolic acid
Yan Tian, Xiao-Xin Li, Jiao-Jiao Zhang, Qing Yun, Si Zhang, Jia-Yi Yu, Xue-Jiao Feng, Ai-Ting Xia, Yang Kang, Feng Huang, Fang Wan
Yan Tian, Xiao-Xin Li, Jiao-Jiao Zhang, Qing Yun, Si Zhang, Jia-Yi Yu, Xue-Jiao Feng, Ai-Ting Xia, Feng Huang, Fang Wan, Department of Dermatology, Air Force Characteristic Medical Center, Beijing 100142, China
Yang Kang, Center of Medical and Health, Unit 71901 of PLA, Liaocheng 252000, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Tian Y and Li XX contributed equally to this work, and are co-first authors; Tian Y contributed to the conception of the study; Tian Y and Li XX contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation; Li XX performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript; Zhang JJ, Yu JY and Feng XJ are responsible for the treatment process; Yun Q, Zhang S, Xia AT, Kang Y, Huang F, and Wan F helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Air Force Characteristic Medical Center (Approval No. 2020-160-PJ01).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study was not registered.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The manuscript was revised according to the CONSORT 2010 statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan Tian, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Dermatology, Air Force Characteristic Medical Center, No. 30 Fucheng Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100142, China. tianyan311@126.com
Received: January 26, 2021
Peer-review started: January 26, 2021
First decision: February 28, 2021
Revised: March 11, 2021
Accepted: April 22, 2021
Article in press: April 22, 2021
Published online: June 26, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The incidence of keratosis pilaris is high, and although there are many treatments, the results usually do not persist.

Research motivation

Keratosis pilaris affects the appearance of patients; Glycolic acid can improve the texture and color of the skin.

Research objectives

We followed subjects for 5 year, which allowed evaluation of both short-term and long-term efficacy of high-concentration glycolic acid for treating periceratosis.

Research methods

We used spectrophotometry and the L*a*b color system as an innovative evaluation of both the treatment effects and the color and luster of the lesions.

Research results

Compared with pretreatment values, differences in the number of keratotic papules, melanin content, skin lightness, and skin hemoglobin on days 20, 40, 60, and 80 were significant. The differences were not significant at the 5-year follow-up.

Research conclusions

A high concentration of glycolic acid significantly improved skin roughness as well as follicular hyperpigmentation in patients with keratosis pilaris. The treatment was relatively safe, but there was no significant difference at the 5-year follow-up compared with pretreatment values.

Research perspectives

High-concentration glycolic acid can be used as a novel treatment for keratosis pilaris.