Low-Dose Doxycycline Effective in Scarring Alopecia

TOPLINE:

Low-dose doxycycline showed similar efficacy with high-dose medication in patients with lymphocytic scarring alopecia, with a lower fee of antagonistic occasions (AEs) and connected discontinuations.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a retrospective overview of 241 patients (82.6% females; point out age, 58.4 years; 49.8% White; 14.1% Sad) diagnosed with lymphocytic scarring alopecia between 2009 and 2023 to tackle the restricted evidence regarding medication outcomes with low-dose doxycycline in these patients.
• Basically the most in model diagnoses had been lichen planopilaris (50.2%), frontal fibrosing alopecia (Forty five.6%), and central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (15.4%).
• Overall, 64 patients (27.4%) purchased low-dose doxycycline (20 mg twice day-to-day, 40 mg day-to-day, or 50 mg day-to-day), and 175 (72.6%) purchased high-dose doxycycline (50 mg twice day-to-day, 100 mg day-to-day, or 100 mg twice day-to-day).
• All patients purchased adjunctive medication. Basically the most in model adjunctive treatments had been intralesional corticosteroids (56.4%), topical corticosteroids (46.1%), and 5% topical minoxidil (31.5%).
• Outcomes integrated irritation severity, scalp indicators, hair loss stability, and affected person perceptions.

TAKEAWAY:

• There were no significant differences between low- and high-dose groups in enchancment in severity of irritation (P = .21), hair loss stability (P = .39), and resolution of scalp indicators (P = .23). The same findings had been considered in the lichen planopilaris/frontal fibrosing alopecia cohort (P = .42, P = .16, and P = .12, respectively).
• Patient-reported outcomes showed no significant differences between dose groups after controlling for adjunctive therapies (P = .ninety nine).
• Excessive-dose doxycycline was connected to vastly elevated rates of antagonistic effects in comparison with low-dose medication (23.4% vs 12.1%; P = .05), basically gastrointestinal indicators (11.4% vs 6.0%) and photosensitivity/rash (6.9% vs 4.6%).
• Doxycycline was diminished or discontinued in 20.4% of high-dose and 9.1% of low-dose patients attributable to AEs.

IN PRACTICE:

“This search highlights the advantages of low-dose doxycycline for lymphocytic scarring alopecias, showing similar efficacy and improved tolerability relative to high doses,” the authors wrote. Prospective be taught are wished “to further toughen” the utilize of low-dose doxycycline for this group of patients, they added.

SOURCE:

The search was led by Carli Needle, BA, and Anna Brinks, BA, NYU Grossman College of Pills, Fresh York Metropolis, and was printed online on March 18 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The search boundaries integrated discrepancy in dose group sizes, lack of racial fluctuate, variance in examination documentation, high frequency of adjunctive treatments, and the minute resolution of patients with central centrifugal alopecia. Contributions of concurrent therapies to outcomes weren’t analyzed.

DISCLOSURES:

The search did no longer safe any funding. The authors reported no competing interests.

This text was created utilizing several editorial instruments, including AI, as share of the intention. Human editors reviewed this announce material earlier than newsletter.