Raman spectroscopy analysis of the skin of patients with melasma before standard treatment with topical corticosteroids, retinoic acid, and hydroquinone mixture

Abstract

Our results are consistent with our previous work in the sense that melasma patients who do not respond to treatment have an abnormal melanin. We believe it will eventually help to decide the treatment of melasma in clinical dermatology.

Prospective randomized controlled trial comparing treatment efficacy and tolerance of picosecond alexandrite laser with a diffractive lens array and triple combination cream in female asian patients with melasma

“…TCC is the first-line and gold standard treatment for melasma but is hardly effective in markedly photodamaged skin, as demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy by Moncada et al 22 The mean age of the participants was 43.75 AE 8.15 years, and we assumed that patients in this age group did not have severe photodamage. This could also potentially explain why our patients demonstrated good results after TCC treatment.…”

Detection of hydroquinone by Raman spectroscopy in patients with melasma before and after treatment

“…The study involves 31 patients presenting melasma (27 females and 4 males) ages between 23 and 52 years (median 38.8), who were under clinical treatment with a triple combination bleaching agent (Tretinoin, Fluocinolone, and Hydroquinone) with different evolution time for every patient. The study treatment has been previously described by Moncada, et al All patients signed their informed consent and the local ethics committee approval was obtained for this study. The Raman measurements were taken before and after treatment in different regions of the face: midface, malar, and mandibular where skin hyperpigmentation was presented.…”

“…Recently, Moncada et al use Raman spectroscopy in melasma patients treated with a triple combination cream (Tretinoin, Fluocinolone, and Hydroquinone), and found that the Raman skin spectra of the melasma patients show differences in the peaks associated to melanin at 1352 and 1580 cm −1 . They found the Raman skin spectrum of patients who did not respond to treatment showed peaks are not well‐defined, which is in agreement with the molecule deterioration and decomposition of proteins.…”

Raman Spectroscopy for In Vivo Medical Diagnosis

“…Moncada et al [55] used Raman spectroscopy in melasma patients treated with a triple combination cream (Tretinoin, Fluocinolona, and Hydroquinone) and found that the Raman skin spectra of the melasma patients showed differences in the peaks associated to melanin at 1352 and 1580 cm À1 ( Figure 5). The Raman skin spectrum of patients who did not respond to treatment ( Figure 1B) showed peaks that are not well defined, which are consistent with molecule degradation and protein breakdown.…”

“…Raman skin spectra of all melasma patients, grouped by patients who responded to the treatment (A) and patients who did not respond to treatment (B). For each group, the central solid line corresponds to the mean of the spectra of each group, and the gray shadow around this line represents the standard deviation [55]. signal particularly in biological samples.…”