Laboratory Tests Need for Plasma Lipids and Liver Enzymes During Oral IsotretioinTreatment

Acne is a chronic inflammatory condition of the pilosebaceous unit. Isotretinoin (ISO) is orally active retinoic acid derivative that is usually used to treat nodulocystic and conglobate types and resistant acne. Routine laboratory tests need when treating patients with ISO is controversal. We retrospectively collected data of 172 patients who received oral ISO for the treatment of acne vulgaris at the Dermatology Clinic of our institution and we examined biochemical parameters. When we compared pre-treatment and 3rd month treatment values in terms of serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, AST, and ALT, these parameters were significantly higher at 3rd month. Same laboratory parameters were significantly higher at sixth-month of treatment then those at 3rd-month of treatment. Only HDL cholesterol was significantly lower at third-month of treatment compared with pre-treatment and was lower at sixth-month of the treatment than those at third-month of treatment. However, there was no statistical difference between third-month of treatment and sixth-month of treatment in terms of these all studied parameters