Retinoids in Skin Health and Disease — Mechanisms, Clinical Applications, and Safety: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA

Name: SAIMSARA Evidence Object skin::RETINOIDS_PM
Creator: SAIMSARA
License: https://saimsara.com/license/

SAIMSARA

doi:10.62487/saimsara31f4decb

SAIMSARA Journal

Machine-Readable Science • ISSN 3054-3991

Retinoids in Skin Health and Disease — Mechanisms, Clinical Applications, and Safety: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA

Skin & Aesthetics

Issue 8, Volume 1, 2026

Chat with this issue

DOI: 10.62487/saimsara31f4decb

Editorial note

• Last update: 2026-11-12 10:18:27

What is this paper about

From reversing skin aging and clearing acne to treating psoriasis and preventing skin cancer, how effective and safe are retinoids—and what determines their benefits and risks? This review brings together 322 scientific references to reveal the mechanisms, clinical evidence, and safety trade-offs behind retinoid therapy—unlock the full review to explore the findings.

Human-verified editorial review Verified by World ID proof-of-human. This editorial layer was submitted from a SAIMSARA account verified as a unique human.

Generated with SAIMSARA v5.3

Abstract: To map and synthesize original research on retinoids in skin, identifying the dominant biological mechanisms, clinical applications, formulation strategies, safety signals, and evidence gaps relevant to retinoid use and retinoid signaling in cutaneous health and disease. The review uses 320 references and builds its evidence map from 796 original studies with 21358 total participants/sample observations (topic-deduplicated ΣN). This scoping review indicates that retinoids act as pleiotropic regulators of skin biology, with recurrent signals linking RAR/RXR signaling to epidermal proliferation, dermal matrix remodeling, and tightly regulated local metabolism that together explain both therapeutic benefit and characteristic irritation. Across diverse formulations and populations, retinoids were consistently associated with improvements in photoaging, acne, and psoriasis, including long-term reductions in lentigines and substantial lesion clearance, while mucocutaneous dryness and barrier disruption remained the dominant tolerability barriers. A practical implication is that tolerability can often be improved through barrier-supportive adjuncts and targeted delivery systems without clearly sacrificing efficacy. However, much of this evidence derives from small or lower-level study designs, so confidence in comparative effectiveness remains limited. Future head-to-head trials with standardized efficacy, irritation, and tolerability endpoints—particularly in underrepresented skin types—are needed to clarify which retinoid strategies optimize the therapeutic index.

Keywords: Retinoids; Human skin; Retinol; Retinoic acid; Retinoid receptors; Keratinocytes; Photoaging; Acne; Psoriasis; Skin barrier

Review Stats

Final search date and database lock: 2026-06-13 18:10:41 CEST
Plan: Pro (expanded craft tokens; source: PubMed)
Source: PubMed
Total Abstracts/Papers: 1436
Downloaded Abstracts/Papers: 1436
Included original and non-original Abstracts/Papers (all): 1115
Included original Abstracts/Papers (Vote counting by direction of effect): 796
Reference Index (links used in paper): 320
Total participants/sample observations (topic deduplicated ΣN): 21358

Get access to the full paper

Unlock the full evidence map

Full paper access includes the complete human-readable review, figures, reference index, PDF export, and machine-readable Evidence JSON download.
Evidence JSON can also be purchased separately if you only need the LLM-ready object for agent, AI, or RAG workflows.
Institutional or library access? Sign in with your institution email to open all available SAIMSARA papers under your institution access arrangement.
Need a SAIMSARA review on your own topic? ☸️Request.

Reference Index (320)

[1] Cosmetic retinoid use in photoaged skin: A review of the compounds, their use and mechanisms of action. — https://doi.org/10.1111/ics.13013
[2] Retinoic Acid and Its Derivatives in Skin. — https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9122660
[3] Oral Isotretinoin and Its Uses in Dermatology: A Review. — https://doi.org/10.2147/dddt.s427530
[4] Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety. — https://doi.org/10.2147/ciia.2006.1.4.327
[5] Management of Acne Vulgaris With Trifarotene. — https://doi.org/10.1177/12034754231163542
[6] Molecular basis of retinol anti-ageing properties in naturally aged human skin in vivo. — https://doi.org/10.1111/ics.12348
[7] Retinoid treatment of skin diseases. — https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2015.2544
[8] Skin cellular retinoid-binding proteins and retinoid-responsive dermatoses. — https://doi.org/10.1159/000249244

Unlock the full paper to view the complete Reference Index.