FRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Er:YAG is more efficacious than bipolar radiofrequency combined with diode laser (BRDL) for treatment of mild-to-moderate acne scars, according to a study published online Nov. 2 in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
Seonguk Min, M.D., Ph.D., from the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, and colleagues compared the efficacy of Er:YAG laser and BRDL for the treatment of acne scars. Twenty-four subjects with mild-to-moderate scars were treated in a split-face manner with two treatment sessions four weeks apart.
The researchers found that the degree of improvement based on the Investigator's Global Assessment was 50 percent for fractional Er:YAG and 25 percent for BRDL. Er:YAG induced later and higher peak TGFβ and collagenase expression, while BDRL correlated with earlier and lower induction of TGFβ and collagenases, respectively. PPARγ peaked in the Er:YAG-treated side and then dropped rapidly, which correlated with expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP). Higher TIMP expression was seen after Er:YAG versus BRDL, which may be linked to upregulation of collagen fibers.
"The superior efficacy of Er:YAG to BRDL in the treatment of acne scars may be associated with higher expression of collagen which is associated with differential expression of TGFβs, collagenases, PPARγ, and TIMP," the authors write.
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