Abstract
Combined treatment with oral lymecycline and topical adapalene has been shown to induce greater and faster improvement of acne than monotherapy with lymecycline. We wanted to evaluate the effects of combined therapy with topical adapalene (cream or gel) plus oral lymecycline used at different dosages (group A: 300mg/day for 2 weeks and then 150mg/day for 14 weeks; group B: 300mg/day for 16 weeks) in 242 patients with inflammatory acne. Both dosage regimens were well tolerated in the majority of patients and significantly improved both the acne lesion count and seborrhoea. There was a trend towards a greater reduction of seborrhoea and nodules in patients of group B. After the initial 16-week phase, patients entered an 8-week follow-up phase, consisting of the use of adapalene monotherapy. The results obtained after this phase confirm the therapeutic value and the favourable tolerability of adapalene as maintenance treatment after successful treatment of inflammatory acne. At the same time, a significantly reduced count of comedones was observed in patients of group B as compared with group A, suggesting that prolonged use of high-dose lymecycline may have a more pronounced influence on comedogenesis.