Acne antibiotic shows efficacy on rosacea sub-type
Oral sarecycline, part of a class of antibiotics known as tetracycline antibiotics, is effective at treating papulopustular rosacea, found a pilot study.
The study, conducted by JDR Dermatology Research and presented at the South Beach Symposium Medical Dermatology Summit in February 2021, found that oral sarecycline is efficacious in contributing to clearer skin, lessening lesion count and reducing dryness in patients with papulopustular rosacea.
In the prospective parallel group study, researchers analysed 97 patients with moderate to severe papulopustular rosacea. 72 people were randomly assigned to receive sarecycline while 25 received a control multivitamin.
Both groups experienced a reduction in IGA scores, but the sarecycline group yielded a greater IGA (Investigator Global Assessment, for clear or almost-clear skin) reduction compared with the multivitamin group (P < .0001) as well as a statistically superior total inflammatory lesion count reduction at week 12 compared with the multivitamin group (P < .0001).
Further analysis showed sarecycline was well tolerated and yielded significant reductions in dryness (P = .01), peeling (P = .02), skin burning (P = .01) and pruritus (P < .001) by week 12.
“Results of this pilot study demonstrate that oral sarecycline is efficacious as early as four weeks and safe for the treatment of papulopustular rosacea in adults based on IGA assessments, total inflammatory lesion reductions, [Subject Global Assessment] outcomes and safety evaluations,” said Dr James Del Rosso and colleagues, suggesting that additional studies be conducted to further evaluate the use of oral sarecycline for rosacea treatment.
The third-generation antibiotic was FDA-approved for the treatment of acne in 2018.