Comparison of the efficacy, safety and tolerability of minocycline with and without the addition of probiotics in patients with mild to moderate acne

Systemic antibiotic therapy is a very effective treatment for acne vulgaris. At the same time, the development of side effects from treatment is almost inevitable, in some cases poorly tolerated by patients and requiring the discontinuation of treatment.

The purpose of this prospective, randomized, open-label study was to test the hypothesis that adding probiotics to the standard antimicrobial regimen for acne may reduce the incidence of adverse drug reactions in patients with mild forms to moderate acne vulgaris, as well as improving the therapeutic effect on the inflammatory elements of acne. skin rash.

The study included 45 girls and young women aged 18 to 35, who were randomized into one of three groups. Group A received only probiotics, group B received only antibiotics (minocycline), group C received both minocycline antibiotics and probiotics.

The clinical evaluation was carried out during the initial visit, as well as during the follow-up visits, which were carried out at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks.

All patients showed statistically significant improvement in the assessment of the total number of inflammatory elements of acne 4 weeks after the start of treatment (p less than 0.001). This positive effect was maintained during all subsequent visits as part of the clinical trial protocol (p less than 0.01). At follow-up visits at week 8 and week 12, patients in group C (minocycline + probiotic) showed a statistically significantly lower number of acne elements than patients in group A (p less than 0.001 ) and B (p less than 0.01). Two patients (13%) in group B were unable to complete the study according to protocol because of the development of vaginal candidiasis.

Thus, probiotics can be viewed as a separate treatment option or addition to standard acne treatment, providing a synergistic anti-inflammatory effect in conjunction with systemic antibacterial drugs and reducing the incidence of potential adverse drug reactions occur when antibiotics are used.