Isotretinoin use and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based cohort study

Limited evidence suggests that isotretinoin may be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To explore this association, we conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study in British Columbia, Canada, among participants who were newly treated with isotretinoin or topical acne medications. The entire population of untreated provincial residents aged 12-29 years served as the reference group. During the 12-year study period, we identified 46,922 participants treated with isotretinoin, 184,824 treated with a topical acne medication, and 1,526,946 untreated individuals. Compared with untreated individuals, we observed no significant association between isotretinoin use and IBD (rate ratio (RR) 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92-1.41). As expected, we found no association with topical acne medications (RR 1.11; 95% CI 0.99-1.24). In prespecified secondary analyses, isotretinoin was associated with IBD among individuals aged 12-19 years (RR 1.39; 95% CI 1.03-1.87) and topical acne medications were associated with ulcerative colitis (RR 1.19; 95% CI 1.00-1.42). Our primary analyses found no association between isotretinoin and IBD. In prespecified secondary analyses, some evidence was found of associations with isotretinoin as well as topical acne medications, suggesting a possible association between IBD and acne itself. Additional research is needed to explore this possibility.