Background: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. Long term therapy involving antibiotics warrants for drug with a long half-life to increase compliance of patients. Methods: A twelve-week prospective randomized study was performed on 40 subjects with moderate to severe facial acne to compare the efficacy of oral azithromycin with oral doxycycline. Thirty-six subjects completed the study. Subjects in azithromycin group received azithromycin 250mg three times a week plus topical benzoyl peroxide 5% (BPO), whereas subjects in doxycycline group received doxycycline 100mg daily plus topical BPO 5%. Efficacy evaluation included treatment success rate (Comprehensive Acne Severity Score /CASS of 0 or 1 or improvement of two grades from baseline) and lesion counts. Results: Treatment was successful in 94.4% of subjects in azithromycin group, compared to 88.9% in doxycycline group (p=1.000) at week 12.However, percentage of clear or almost clear by CASS was higher in the doxycycline group ( 83.3% vs 66.7%; p= 0.443).Percentage reduction of inflammatory lesion counts in azithromycin and doxycycline group following treatment for 12 weeks were 78.3% and 85.3% (p=0.133) respectively, whereas for non-inflammatory lesion counts were 77.7% and 78.8% (p=0.852) respectively. Nausea was reported in 77.8% at week 6 and 66.7% at week 12 in doxycycline group, but none in azithromycin group. There were no significant differences in incidence of diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Conclusion Azithromycin 250mg three times a week plus topical BPO 5% is as effective as doxycycline 100mg daily plus topical BPO 5%.
Azithromycin ; Doxycycline ; Acne Vulgaris--therapy