Minocycline has a unique solubility in
lipids and may reach therapeutic concentrations in tears and saliva. In two consecutive prospective double-masked clinical trials that were carried out in two villages in Saudi Arabia, we assessed the effects of oral
minocycline in the treatment of
trachoma and compared its effects with those of topical
tetracycline ointment in the first study and to
tetracycline ointment and placebo in the second study. A total of 178 eyes in 96 patients were included. The age range was 7 to 14 years, with a mean age of 9 years. All patients underwent complete ophthalmologic evaluation. School children were divided into two groups in a double-masked fashion. The first group received either oral
minocycline or topical
tetracycline 1%
ointment and the second group was divided into three subgroups, each receiving one of the following therapeutic modalities: oral
minocycline, topical
tetracycline ointment, or placebo
ointment. All patients were evaluated before initiation of
therapy, at three weeks and at 12 months following treatment.
Therapy was continued for a period of five weeks. These two double-masked field-based clinical trials have shown both
minocycline given orally and
tetracycline ointment given topically were effective in decreasing the intensity of
inflammation due to
trachoma. Oral
minocycline was found to be equally effective as topical
tetracycline ointment in the treatment of
trachoma at three weeks.
Minocycline, however, was found to be superior to topical
tetracycline when patients were evaluated one year after
therapy (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)