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Blue Lights are Effective Treatment for Acne
Read about Tru-Blu™
A review of the literature
What are
Blue Lights?
| #1
An open study to
determine the efficacy of blue light in the treatment of mild to moderate acne.
Morton CA, Scholefield RD, Whitehurst C, Birch J. J Dermatolog Treat 2005;
16:219-23. |
| BACKGROUND: The rise in antibiotic
resistance threatens to reduce the future usefulness of the current mainstay of
therapy. Phototherapy has previously been shown to be effective in acne, with
renewed interest as both endogenous and exogenous photodynamic therapies are
demonstrated for this condition. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of
narrowband blue light in the reduction of inflammatory and non-inflammatory
lesions in patients with mild to moderate acne and to evaluate patient tolerance
of the therapy. METHODS: We performed an open study utilizing a blue LED
light source in 30 subjects with mild to moderate facial acne. Over 4 weeks,
patients received eight 10- or 20-minute light treatments, peak wavelength
409-419 nm at 40 mW/cm2. Assessments were taken at weeks 5, 8 and 12 and lesion
counts were recorded. Repeated measures-ANOVA and Dunnett's tests, respectively,
allowed assessment of the different scores over time and permitted comparison of
mean counts. RESULTS: An overall effect on inflammatory counts was
observed at week 5, and a statistically significant decrease in inflamed counts
was detected at the week 8 assessments, which continued to week 12. There was
little effect on non-inflamed lesions. The treatment was well tolerated with
adverse events experienced generally rated as being mild and usually
self-limiting. CONCLUSIONS: Eight
10- or 20-minute treatments over 4 weeks with a narrowband blue light was found
to be safe and effective in reducing the number of inflamed lesions in
subjects with mild to moderate acne. The treatment had little effect on
the number of comedones. The onset of the effect was observable at the first
assessment, at week 5, and maximal between weeks 8 and 12. |
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#2
The effective treatment of acne vulgaris by a high-intensity narrow band
405-420nm light source.Elman M,
Slatkin M, Harth Y. J Cosmet Ther 2003; 5:111-7. |
BACKGROUND: Available topical treatments
are slow and frequently irritating. Oral therapies may be associated with
increased bacterial resistance (antibiotics) or possible severe side effects
(oral isotretinoin). In vitro and in vivo exposure of acne bacteria to 405-420
nm ultraviolet (UV) free blue light results in the photo-destruction of these
bacteria through the effects on the porphyrins produced naturally by
Propionibacterium acnes. A novel, high-intensity, narrow band 420 nm UV free
blue light has been shown to decrease inflammatory acne lesions after eight
bi-weekly treatments. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of
high-intensity, narrow band 420 nm UV free blue light (ClearLight) on
inflammatory acne lesions. METHODS: Three studies were carried out to
examine the clinical effects of high-intensity, narrow band blue light on
papulo-pustular acne: the split-face dose-response study, the full-face open
trial and the split-face, double-blind controlled study. The studies enrolled
10, 13 and 23 patients respectively. RESULTS: The data show more than an
80% response to 420 nm acne phototherapy with a significant reduction of 59-67%
of inflammatory acne lesions after only eight treatments of 8-15 minutes. The
reduction in lesions was steady in the follow-ups at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the
end of therapy. Prolonged remission was evident in the 8 weeks after the end of
therapy. No adverse effects or patient discomfort were noted in any of the
patients.
CONCLUSIONS: Acne phototherapy by
high intensity, narrow band 405-420 nm light is proven to be an attractive,
fast, effective, non-invasive alternative to current topical and parenteral
anti-acne remedies. |
| #3
Blue light phototherapy in the treatment of acne. Tzung TY, Wu KH, Huang
ML. Photodermatolog, Photoimmunol & Photomed, 2004 Aug; 20, 266-9 |
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BACKGROUND: Blue light irradiation is known to be
effective against acne. However, the profile of a good candidate is still
unclear. METHODS: Thirty-one Taiwanese with symmetrical facial acne were
irradiated with blue light on one side of the face selected randomly twice
weekly for 4 consecutive weeks. The other half of the face was left untreated as
control. Parameters, including scar type, pore size, and facial follicular
porphyrin fluorescence intensity, were documented. The severity of acne was
assessed before the treatment, after two, four, and eight sessions of treatment,
and 1 month after the treatment was completed. RESULTS: Compared with the
non-irradiation side, eight sessions of blue light irradiation were effective in
acne treatment (P<0.001). Gender (P=0.471), scar type (P-values of pitted,
atrophic, and hypertrophic type were 0.688, 0.572, and 0.802, respectively),
pore size (P=0.755), and pretreatment fluorescence intensity (P=0.656) could not
be used as predictive factors of therapeutic effectiveness. Compared with
pretreatment, nodulocystic lesions tended to worsen despite treatment. In
addition, the therapeutic effectiveness was not related to the fluorescence
intensity change (P=0.812).
CONCLUSIONS: Blue light irradiation
is effective in acne treatment. Patients without nodulocystic lesions are
better candidates for blue light irradiation.
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#4
Acne
Phototherapy with a high-intensity, enhanced, narrow-band, blue light source: an
open study and in vitro
investigation.
Kawada A, Aragane Y, Kameyama H, Sangen Y, Tezuka T.
J Dermatol Sci 2002; 30:129-35. |
The purpose of this study was to
investigate the efficacy of phototherapy with a newly-developed high-intensity,
enhanced, narrow-band, blue light source in patients with mild to moderate acne.
An open study was performed in acne patients who were treated twice a week up to
5 weeks. Acne lesions were reduced by 64%. Two patients experienced dryness. No
patient discontinued treatment due to adverse effects. In vitro investigation
revealed that irradiation from this light source reduced the number of
Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), but not Staphylococcus epidermidis that were
isolated from the acne patients.
Phototherapy using this blue light source was effective and well tolerated in
acne patients and had an ability to decrease numbers of P. acnes in vitro,
suggesting that this phototherapy may be a new modality for the treatment of
acne.
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