Minocycline: Everything you need to know about this antibiotic used in the treatment of rosacea.

Today, minocycline is an antibiotic predominantly used orally to alleviate the symptoms of acne or papulopustular rosacea. A recent study involving 80 patients with papulopustular rosacea highlighted the benefits of administering this substance and compared its effectiveness to doxycycline, another antibiotic that can be prescribed to combat this skin condition. For this purpose, the 80 volunteers were divided into 2 equal groups of 40 people. Individuals in the first group received 100 mg of minocycline per day for 16 weeks, while those in the second group were given 40 mg of doxycycline.

Following the treatment, a symptom improvement of more than 50% was measured in 40% of the "minocycline" group and in 36% of the patients in the "doxycycline" group. Furthermore, 35% of the patients in the "minocycline" group noticed an "excellent improvement", compared to 36% of those in the "doxycycline" group. No major adverse effects were reported. Minocycline, having a less favorable benefit/risk ratio than doxycycline, could thus be an interesting treatment alternative for people suffering from papulopustular rosacea who cannot take doxycycline, for whatever reason.

Less common, the topical application of minocycline could also be of interest in cases of papulopustular rosacea. This is at least what two identical clinical studies conducted in parallel by STUART and his team suggest. The first involved 669 patients with papulopustular rosacea and the second 718. In each study, the patients were divided into two groups: one group received a cream with 1.5% minocycline (437 people in the first study and 479 in the second) and the other received the same cream without minocycline. After 12 weeks of daily application, very good results were obtained in both studies, showing that topical minocycline could be effective in combating papulopustular rosacea.

Indeed, in the first study, scientists observed a 64% reduction in inflammatory lesions in the "minocycline" group. In the second, the measured decrease was 61%. These two reductions were significantly greater than those in the "placebo" groups. Significant decreases in erythema, visibility of telangiectasias, and patients' burning sensations were also recorded. Moreover, the tested cream was very well tolerated. These clinical studies thus provide hope for the potential of topical minocycline in treating papulopustular rosacea.