Addressing Free Radical Oxidation in Acne Vulgaris.

Objective: Comparatively little attention has been paid to the role of free radical oxidation in acne vulgaris. Here, using the traditional abnormalities cited for acne, the authors address the role of free radical oxidation throughout the pathogenesis by detailing the chemistry that may contribute to clinical changes. To probe the effects of free radical oxidation and test an antioxidant, they conducted a preliminary study of topically applied vitamin E.

The 21-day human cumulative irritation test can be reduced to 14 days without loss of sensitivity.

The 21-day cumulative irritation test for assessing the irritancy of topical products and chemicals is a venerable procedure that appears to have become the gold standard for manufacturers. Berger and Bowman in 1982 (1) showed that reducing the exposure to 14 days was less traumatic to the volunteers, less costly, less arduous, and did not affect reliability or the capacity to place the test agents in the proper rank order of irritancy. In the current study we compared (a) the 21-day cumulative irritation test, (b) the 14-day cumulative irritation test, and (c) the 14-day test with every-other-day patching.