A QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF EFFECT OF OXYTETRACYCLINE AND DOXYCYCLINE IN ACNE VULGARIS

SUMMARY.— A double‐blind cross over study on the effect of oxytetracycline and doxycycline in acne vulgaris was performed on 28 patients. The acne lesions were classified in different grades of severity and counted. In this way a reasonably precise assessment of the clinical picture could be obtained. After 4 weeks of treatment with either 750 mg. of oxytetracycline or 100 mg. of doxycycline daily, the severity of the disease was reduced to about 55% of the initial values. After reduction of the dose to one‐third of the initial dose, a relapse was noted in 8 patients, 6 of whom had been treated with 100 mg‐ of doxycycline every third day. On average, improvement continued during the 12 weeks of treatment. At this time the “total acne load” was reduced to 19–31% of the initial values (corresponding to 28–39% of the total number of lesions). No definite side effects were noted. Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved