Acne vulgaris: double-blind trial comparing tetracycline and clindamycin

Abstract

A double-blind prospective study was undertaken to compare low-dosage tetracycline hydrochloride and clindamycin hydrate hydrochloride in the treatment of patients with pustular acne. Clinical improvement was noted in 93.7% of those receiving tetracycline and in 92.8% of those receiving clindamycin. Of those patients who were receiving clindamycin, two patients developed diarrhea and one patient developed pseudomembranous colitis. We conclude, therefore, that clindamycin should not be used as a primary drug in the treatment of acne.

European Evidence‐based (S3) Guidelines for the Treatment of Acne

“…There is a trend towards comparable‐to‐superior efficacy for tetracycline compared with clindamycin 203,204 and erythromycin 205–207 (LE 4).…”

Isotretinoin and the Risk of Depression in Patients With Acne Vulgaris

“…Because minocycline is more lipophilic than tetracycline and doxycycline, it can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause headaches, vertigo, ataxia, and light headedness (28). Minocycline has also been associated with serum sickness-like reactions, drug-induced lupus, and hypersensitivity reactions (66 Clindamycin has been shown to have a similar efficacy as tetracycline in the treatment of inflammatory acne (69). However, its use has been associated with pseudomembranous colitis, affecting between two and 30% of patients (70).…”

Efficacy of tetracyclines in the treatment of acne vulgaris: a review

“…We identified 48 clinical trials investigating systemic tetracycline treatment efficacy in inflammatory acne, 29 trials investigating minocycline systemic treatment efficacy, 28,37,39,45,46,54, 10 trials investigating doxycycline systemic treatment efficacy 8,9,20,62,68,69,[81][82][83][84] and seven trials investigating lymecycline systemic treatment efficacy, 77,80,[85][86][87][88][89] 57 of which were included. 8,9,12,14,16,17,[19][20][21]23,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]41,42,…”

“…Outcome measures used in clinical trials investigating systemic tetracyclines for acne of tetracycline, minocycline, doxycycline and lymecycline are summarized inTables 2-5, respectively. Several studies were not considered because they included no reproducible assessment of efficacy or no quantitative data on lesion count 12,14,16,17,[19][20][21]23,[25][26][27]32,33,37,46,49,51,54,57,62,71,76,85. …”