Sarecycline for moderate to severe acne: a promising narrow-spectrum antibacterial drug

Amr Elrosasy; Mohamed Abo Zeid; Esraa M AlEdani; Amira A Aboali; Aya M Fayoud; Kareem Ibraheem; Maha Abdullah Alwaili; Samy Selim; Ahmed Hamdy Zabady

doi:10.1007/s00210-024-03557-y

Sarecycline for moderate to severe acne: a promising narrow-spectrum antibacterial drug

Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2024 Nov 4. doi: 10.1007/s00210-024-03557-y. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Amr Elrosasy¹, Mohamed Abo Zeid², Esraa M AlEdani³, Amira A Aboali⁴, Aya M Fayoud⁵, Kareem Ibraheem⁶, Maha Abdullah Alwaili⁷, Samy Selim⁸, Ahmed Hamdy Zabady⁹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
² Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt. Mohamed_31059599@med.tanta.edu.eg.
³ Basra Medical College, Basra, Iraq.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁵ Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafr El Shiekh University, Kafr El Shiekh, Egypt.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
⁷ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, 11671, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, 72388, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Faculty of Science, Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt.

PMID: 39495264
DOI: 10.1007/s00210-024-03557-y

Abstract

Sarecycline, a narrow-spectrum antibacterial drug approved by the FDA in 2018, targets Cutibacterium acnes while potentially minimizing disruption to the gut microbiota. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of sarecycline compared to placebo in treating moderate to severe facial acne. A comprehensive search of PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane databases was performed, with data extraction and screening conducted independently by two authors. Statistical analysis used RevMan, and the risk of bias was evaluated using RoB 2. Three RCTs (n = 2287 patients, mean age 19.6-20.8 years) met the inclusion criteria. Sarecycline (1.5 mg/kg) administered daily for 12 weeks significantly reduced inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesion counts compared to placebo (p < 0.00001). Other outcomes were not statistically significant. Sarecycline 1.5 mg/kg daily is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for moderate to severe acne with minimal side effects.

Keywords: Acne vulgaris; Inflammatory lesions; Papules; Pustules; Sarecycline.