Response by the authors

AD Sharma¹ , PD Gupte² , M Sundaram³ , VR Janaki⁴ , VL Rege⁵ , FE Bilimoria⁶ , J Arora⁷

¹ Wallace Pharmaceutical Ltd., Mumbai, India
² Department of Skin & VD, KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India
³ Department of Dermatology, Govt. General Hospital, Chennai, India
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Govt. General Hospital, Chennai, India
⁵ Department of Skin & VD, Medical College, Goa, India
⁶ Department of Dermatology, B. J. Medical College & Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, India
⁷ Govt. Medical College & Associated Hospitals, Jammu, India

Correspondence Address:
A D Sharma
Wallace Pharmaceutical Ltd., Mumbai
India

Sir,

Lincomycin, belonging to the group of lincosamides, has been in use for the past 40 years.[1] The incidence of resistance associated with the use of lincomycin is lower than with some other antibiotics.[2] Earlier in vitro studies have demonstrated the effect of lincomycin against Propionibacterium acnes,[3] the organism implicated in acne.

Recent reports have suggested that P. acnes has developed resistance to a number of commonly used topical anti-acne agents.[4] The major aim of development of a topical formulation of lincomycin, the first of its kind, was to have a newer topical antibiotic to which the organism had not been earlier exposed. Lincomycin gel was therefore developed as a potent topical anti-acne agent. As it is an original formulation developed by Wallace Pharmaceuticals, acute and chronic toxicity studies were performed,[5] followed by a multicentric clinical study[6] to determine its efficacy. These have proved that the formulation was effective and well tolerated. As a topical formulation is available only in India recently, this has not been mentioned in textbooks.

As regards its safety profile, the study compared lincomycin gel with the base used (placebo) and demonstrated that adverse effects with the active drug were no more than with the placebo. Further comparative studies with other available anti-acne agents should be useful in determining the comparative efficacy and tolerability of lincomycin gel.

1.	Herrel WE. Lincomycin. Chicago: Modern Scientific Publications; 1969. [Google Scholar]
2.	Dollery C. Therapeutic drugs. 1st ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1991. [Google Scholar]
3.	Unkles SE, Gemmell CG. Effect of clindamycin, erythromycin, lincomycin and tetracycline on growth and extracellular lipase production by propionibacterium in vitro. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1982;21:39-43. [Google Scholar]
4.	Eady EA, Jones CE, Tipper JL, Cove JH, Cunliffe WJ, Layton AM. Antibiotic resistant propionobacterium in acne: Need for policies to modify antibiotic usage. BMJ 1993;306:555-6. [Google Scholar]
5.	Data on file, Wallace Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai, India. [Google Scholar]
6.	Sharma AD, Gupte PD, Sundaram M, Janaki VR, Rege VL, et al. Topical lincomycin gel in acne vulgaris: A multicentric placebo controlled study. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2003;69:271-3. [Google Scholar]