Comparison of the efficacy of azithromycin and doxycycline in the treatment of rosacea: results of a randomized clinical trial

Rosacea is a fairly common inflammatory skin disease. Currently, the use of antibacterial drugs for systemic use in the treatment of rosacea is periodically accompanied by undesirable drug reactions. In this regard, there is a need for an effective drug in the physician's arsenal, characterized by a small number of adverse drug reactions and good patient compliance. A recent study has demonstrated the efficacy of the antibiotic azithromycin in the treatment of inflammatory acne.

The objective of the open randomized clinical trial was to compare the efficacy of azithromycin with traditional treatment with doxycycline in the treatment of rosacea.

The patients (n = 67) were divided into 2 groups. Patients in group 1 took azithromycin 500 mg 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) the first month, 250 mg 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) the second month and 250 mg 2 times a week (Tuesday and Saturday) during the third month. The second group of patients received 100 mg of doxycycline daily for three months.

A clinical evaluation was carried out during the initial visit, at the end of the first, second and third months of treatment and 2 months after the end of treatment. The limitation of this study was open design.

It turned out that in the two treatment groups, there was a statistically significant improvement during treatment with the drugs studied. The efficacy of doxycycline and azithromycin was the same. 4 patients on azithromycin had diarrhea, while 2 patients on doxycycline had heartburn.

Thus, in this study, azithromycin demonstrated comparable efficacy in the treatment of rosacea with doxycycline and a favorable safety profile.