Source: Circulation  |  Posted 8 years ago

Studies have produced conflicting results on whether isotretinoin, and other isotretinoin retinoids such as vitamin A and etretinate, may be associated with depression, psychosis, and suicide, according to the findings of a new meta-analysis on the subject.

According to Peter R. Hull, MD and Carl D'Arcy, MD, with the Department of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, the growing number of reported cases of depression and suicide associated with isotretinoin use in patients with acne has triggered new warnings from regulators including depression-related, patient-informed consent forms.

A pharmacological mechanism that would account for psychiatric symptomatology as a result of isotretinoin treatment has not been found, the authors note. But retinoid receptors are widely distributed in the brain and more research is needed to ascertain whether they have a role in depression.

Hoffmann-La Roche, the manufacturer of Accutane