New Developments in Tetracycline-Class Antibiotics

Dr. Christopher Bunick & Dr. Adam Friedman

 

Tetracycline antibiotics are like the Snickers of dermatology. Instead of “Hungry? Grab a Snickers,” “Acne? Grab a tetracycline…” for months even though this goes against clinical guidelines and concerns regarding antimicrobial resistance (woof, thats a mouthful for a slogan). Like a Snickers, they fulfill a need, they’re good for a whole lot, but too much, not so good. We have seen some evolution in maximizing the clinical benefits of our therapeutic Snickers, such as subantimicrobial dosing, but more innovation is needed to get the most anti-inflammatory bang for our buck. Enter the concept of narrow spectrum antibiotics and sarecycline.