Tetracyclines and their uses in dermatology

Abstract

Tetracyclines are widely used as broad-spectrum antibiotics in medicine. In this article we review the side-effects and the potential use of the three most common drugs of the tetracycline group including tetracycline hydrochloride, doxy-cycline and minocycline hydrochloride in dermatology. Beside their use in infectious diseases, tetracyclines are commonly used in the treatment of noninfectious diseases, mainly inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in dermatology. In these cases tetracyclines are mainly used as an adjuvant treatment and in combination therapy as well as monotherapy. Some of the noninfectious diseases are uncommon chronic diseases without known effective curative treatment and the clinical data about the effectiveness of tetracyclines is based only on case reports.

Key Words:

• Tetracyclines