Antihypertensive medications may be linked to lower acne risk

Key takeaways:

• The 5-year risk for developing acne was significantly lower among adults taking vasodilators vs. thiazide diuretics.
• It was unclear if thiazide diuretics cause acne or if vasodilators protect against it.

Antihypertensive medications may lower patients’ risk for developing acne within 5 years of therapy initiation, according to a study.

“Recent research has demonstrated that the use of vasodilatory medications is associated with a decreased relative risk of rosacea,” Paras Patel, BA, of the dermatology services at the Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System and Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “This finding is significant due to the overlapping inflammatory pathways in rosacea and acne.”

According to the authors, because these diseases share several underlying mechanisms, vasodilator medications may reduce the relative risk for acne as well.

To test this hypothesis, the authors conducted a retrospective cohort study to find the association between vasodilatory usage and the risk for developing acne within 5 years.

The researchers collected data from the State University of New York Downstate TriNetX Research Network on patients who took angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers. These patients were compared with those taking thiazide diuretics, due to its non-vasodilatory antihypertensive mechanism.

Results showed that 12,135 patients developed acne within 5 years of starting an antihypertensive medication.

Compared with those taking thiazide diuretics, the 5-year risk for developing acne was significantly lower among adults taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (RR = 0.775; 95% CI, 0.727-0.826), angiotensin receptor blockers (RR = 0.739; 95% CI, 0.685-0.797), beta-blockers (RR = 0.829; 95% CI, 0.777-0.885) and calcium channel blockers (RR = 0.821; 95% CI, 0.773-0.873).

The study showed that the risk difference for developing acne within 5 years of thiazide diuretic usage vs. angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers usage was –0.099% (95% CI, –0.124% to –0.074%), –0.1% (95% CI, –0.125% to –0.075%), –0.074% (95% CI, –0.099% to –0.048%) and –0.082% (95% CI, –0.107% to –0.057%), respectively.

“It is unclear if thiazide diuretics are more likely to cause acne within the adult population or if vasodilators are protective against development of acne,” the authors wrote. “The underlying mechanism for the reduction of the development of acne should be further studied and may provide clinicians with further guidance for initiating and altering antihypertensive therapy.”