5.1 Skin Irritation

The skin of certain individuals may become dry, red, or exfoliated while using tretinoin gel. If the degree of irritation warrants, patients should be directed to temporarily reduce the amount or frequency of application of the medication, discontinue use temporarily, or discontinue use all together. Efficacy at reduced frequencies of application has not been established. If a reaction suggesting sensitivity occurs, use of the medication should be discontinued. Mild to moderate skin dryness may also be experienced; if so, use of an appropriate moisturizer during the day may be helpful.

Tretinoin has been reported to cause severe irritation on eczematous or sunburned skin and should be used with utmost caution in patients with these conditions.

To help limit skin irritation, patients must:

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wash the treated skin gently, using a mild, non-medicated soap, and pat it dry

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avoid washing the treated skin too often and scrubbing the affected skin area

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avoid contact with the peels of limes

5.2 Ultraviolet Light and Environmental Exposure

Unprotected exposure to sunlight, including sunlamps, should be minimized during the use of tretinoin gel. Patients who normally experience high levels of sun exposure, and those with inherent sensitivity to sun, should be warned to exercise caution. Use of sunscreen products of at least SPF 15 and protective clothing over treated areas is recommended when exposure cannot be avoided.

Weather extremes, such as wind or cold, also may be irritating to tretinoin-treated skin.

5.3 Fish Allergies

Tretinoin gel contains soluble fish proteins and should be used with caution in patients with known sensitivity or allergy to fish. Patients who develop pruritus or urticaria should contact their health care provider.

6.1 Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under prescribed conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

In two randomized, controlled trials, 674 subjects received treatment for up to 12 weeks with tretinoin gel [see Clinical Studies (14)]. In these studies, 50% of the subjects who were treated with tretinoin gel reported one or more adverse reactions; 30% of the subjects reported treatment-related adverse reactions. In the vehicle group, 29% of the 487 randomized subjects reported at least one adverse reaction; 5% of the subjects reported events that were treatment-related. There were no serious, treatment-related adverse reactions reported by subjects in any of the treatment groups.

Selected adverse reactions that occurred in at least 1% of subjects in the two studies combined are shown in Table 1 (below). Most skin-related adverse reactions first appear during the first two weeks of treatment with tretinoin gel, and the incidence rate for skin-related reactions peaks around the second and third week of treatment. In some subjects the skin-related adverse reactions persist throughout the treatment period.

6.2 Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of tretinoin gel. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Temporary hyper- or hypopigmentation has been reported with repeated application of tretinoin.

8.1 Pregnancy

8.3 Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when tretinoin gel is administered to a nursing woman.

8.4 Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness in children below the age of 10 have not been established.

A total of 381 pediatric subjects (aged 10 to 16 years), treated with tretinoin gel were enrolled into the two clinical studies. Across these two studies, comparable safety and efficacy were observed between pediatric and adult subjects.

8.5 Geriatric Use

Safety and effectiveness in a geriatric population have not been established. Clinical studies of tretinoin gel did not include any subjects over age 65 to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects.

12.1 Mechanism of Action

Tretinoin is a metabolite of Vitamin A that binds with high affinity to specific retinoic acid receptors located in both the cytosol and nucleus, but cutaneous levels of tretinoin in excess of physiologic concentrations occur following application of a tretinoin-containing topical drug product.

Although tretinoin activates three members of the retinoic acid (RAR) nuclear receptors (RARα, RARβ, and RARγ) which act to modify gene expression, subsequent protein synthesis, and epithelial cell growth and differentiation, it has not been established whether the clinical effects of tretinoin are mediated through activation of retinoic acid receptors, other mechanisms, or both.

Although the exact mode of action of tretinoin is unknown, current evidence suggests that topical tretinoin decreases cohesiveness of follicular epithelial cells with decreased microcomedo formation. Additionally, tretinoin stimulates mitotic activity and increased turnover of follicular epithelial cells causing extrusion of the comedones.

12.3 Pharmacokinetics

In two (2) studies, the plasma levels of tretinoin and its major metabolites (13-cis-retinoic acid and 4-oxo-13-cis-retinoic acid) were investigated in a total of 14 patients (age: 13 – 25 years) with severe acne, who applied 4 g ± 0.5 g (range 3.5 g – 4.5 g) of tretinoin gel once daily to face, back and chest, as compared to a mean of 0.71 g (range of 0.07 – 3.71 g) applied in the controlled clinical trials. Blood samples were taken at baseline and immediately prior to treatment on days 1, 5, 10 and 14. On Day 14, the final study day, samples also were taken 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 24 hours, post-treatment.

The plasma concentrations of tretinoin and its metabolites could be measured (LOQ = 0.5 ng/mL for all three analytes) in all patients at all time points. The range of plasma concentrations of tretinoin and its metabolites, 13-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans-4-oxo-retinoic acid at baseline and after multiple once daily applications of tretinoin gel 0.05% for 14 days are given in Table 2 (below). Although some patients had increased concentrations of tretinoin or its metabolites over baseline values, no consistent increase in these concentrations were observed across patients.

13.1 Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

A 2-year dermal mouse carcinogenicity study was initiated with topical administration of 0.005%, 0.025% and 0.05% tretinoin gel. Although no drug-related tumors were observed in surviving animals, the irritating nature of the drug product precluded daily dosing, confounding data interpretation and reducing the biological significance of these results.

Studies in hairless albino mice with a different formulation suggest that concurrent exposure to tretinoin may enhance the tumorigenic potential of carcinogenic doses of UVB and UVA light from a solar simulator. This effect was confirmed in a later study in pigmented mice, and dark pigmentation did not overcome the enhancement of photocarcinogenesis by 0.05% tretinoin. Although the significance of these studies to humans is not clear, patients should minimize exposure to sunlight or artificial ultraviolet irradiation sources.

The genotoxic potential of tretinoin was evaluated in an in vitro bacterial reversion test, an in vitro chromosomal aberration assay in human lymphocytes and an in vivo rat micronucleus assay. All tests were negative.

In dermal fertility studies of another tretinoin formulation in rats, slight (not statistically significant) decreases in sperm count and motility were seen at 0.5 mg/kg/day (3 mg/m2, approximately 4 times the clinical dose based on body surface area comparison), and slight (not statistically significant) increases in the number and percent of nonviable embryos in females treated with 0.25 mg/kg/day and above (1.5 mg/m2, approximately 2 times the clinical dose based on body surface area comparison), were observed.