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Included as part of the PRECAUTIONS section.

Ultraviolet Light and Environmental Exposure

Exposure to sunlight, including sunlamps, should be minimized during use of DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3%. Patients who normally experience high levels of sun exposure, and those with inherent sensitivity to sun, should be warned to exercise caution. Use of sunscreen products and protective clothing over treated areas is recommended when exposure cannot be avoided. Weather extremes, such as wind or cold, also may be irritating to patients under treatment with DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3%.

Local Cutaneous Reactions

Certain cutaneous signs and symptoms of treatment such as erythema, scaling, dryness, and stinging/burning were reported with use of DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3%. These were most likely to occur during the first four weeks of treatment, were mostly mild to moderate in intensity, and usually lessened with continued use of the medication. Depending upon the severity of these side effects, patients should be instructed to either use a moisturizer, reduce the frequency of application of DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% or discontinue use.

Avoid contact with the eyes, lips, angles of the nose, and mucous membranes. The product should not be applied to cuts, abrasions, eczematous or sunburned skin. As with other retinoids, use of "waxing" as a depilatory method should be avoided on skin treated with adapalene.

As DIFFERIN Gel has the potential to induce local irritation in some patients, concomitant use of other potentially irritating topical products (medicated or abrasive soaps and cleansers, soaps and cosmetics that have a strong drying effect and products with high concentrations of alcohol, astringents, spices, or lime) should be approached with caution.

Allergic/ Hypersensitivity Reactions:

Reactions characterized by symptoms such as pruritus, face edema, eyelid edema, and lip swelling, requiring medical treatment have been reported during postmarketing use of adapalene. A patient should stop using DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% and consult a doctor if experiencing allergic or anaphylactoid/anaphylactic reactions (e.g., skin rash, pruritus, hives, chest pain, edema, and shortness of breath) during treatment.

Nonclinical Toxicology

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

Carcinogenicity studies with adapalene have been conducted in mice at topical doses of 0.4,1.3, and 4.0 mg/kg/day, and in rats at oral doses of 0.15, 0.5, and 1.5 mg/kg/day. These doses are up to 3 times (mice) and 2 times (rats) in terms of mg/irf/day the potential exposure at the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD), assumed to be 2.5 grams DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3%. In the oral study, increased incidence of benign and malignant pheochromocytomas in the adrenal medullas of male rats was observed.

No photocarcinogenicity studies were conducted. Animal studies have shown an increased risk of skin neoplasms with the use of pharmacologically similar drugs (e.g., retinoids) when exposed to UV irradiation in the laboratory or to sunlight. Although the significance of these studies to human use is not clear, patients should be advised to avoid or minimize exposure to either sunlight or artificial UV irradiation sources.

Adapalene did not exhibit mutagenic or genotoxic effects in vitro (Ames test, Chinese hamster ovary cell assay, mouse lymphoma TK assay) and in vivo (mouse micronucleus test).

Reproductive function and fertility studies were conducted in rats administered oral doses of adapalene in amounts up to 20 mg/kg/day (up to 26 times the MRHD based on mg/m² comparisons). No effects of adapalene were found on the reproductive performance or fertility of the F0 males or females. There were also no detectable effects on the growth, development and subsequent reproductive function of the FI offspring.

Use In Specific Populations

Pregnancy

Teratogenic effects. Pregnancy Category C.

Retinoids may cause fetal harm, when administered to pregnant women. Adapalene has been shown to be teratogenic in rats and rabbits when administered orally (see Animal Data below). There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. The safety and efficacy of DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% in pregnancy has not been established.

Human Data

In clinical trials involving DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% in the treatment of acne vulgaris, women of child-bearing potential initiated treatment only after having had a negative pregnancy test and used effective birth control measures during therapy. However, 6 women treated with DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% became pregnant. One patient elected to terminate the pregnancy, two patients delivered healthy babies by normal delivery, two patients delivered prematurely and the babies remained in intensive care until reaching a healthy state and one patient was lost to follow-up.

Animal Data

• No teratogenic effects were seen in rats at oral doses of 0.15 to 5.0 mg/kg/day adapalene representing up to 6 times the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) based on mg/m² comparisons. Adapalene has been shown to be teratogenic in rats and rabbits when administered orally at doses ≥ 25 mg/kg representing 32 and 65 times, respectively, the MRHD based on mg/m² comparisons. Findings included cleft palate, microphthalmia, encephalocele and skeletal abnormalities in the rat and umbilical hernia, exophthalmos and kidney and skeletal abnormalities in the rabbit.
• Cutaneous teratology studies in rats and rabbits at doses of 0.6,2.0, and 6.0 mg/kg/day exhibited no fetotoxicity and only minimal increases in supernumerary ribs in both species and delayed ossification in rabbits. Systemic exposure (AUC_0-24h) to adapalene 0.3% gel at topical doses of 6.0 mg/kg/day in rats and rabbits represented 5.7 and 28.7 times, respectively, the exposure in acne patients treated with adapalene 0.3% gel applied to the face, chest and back (2 grams applied to 1000 cm² of acne involved skin).

Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether adapalene is excreted in human milk. Because many drags are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% is administered to a nursing woman.

Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients below the age of 12.

Geriatric Use

Clinical studies of DIFFERIN Gel, 0.3% did not include subjects 65 years of age and older to determine whether they respond differently than younger subjects. Safety and effectiveness in geriatric patients age 65 and above have not been established.

Last reviewed on RxList: 9/24/2010
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.