Treatment of acne vulgaris with anti androgens

Abstract

This study was conducted to compare the relative efficacy of spironolactone and cimetidine in moderately severe acne vulgaris. Fifteen women were treated with spironolactone (100 mg daily) given cyclically, while 14 women were given cimetidine (1400 mg daily) cyclically. The response was evaluated at 12 weeks. Spironolactone produced a good to excellent response in 11 (73. 3%) acne patients while with cimetidine 6 (42.8%) patients showed a good to excellent response. The mean reduction of the non-inflammatory and inflammatory lesion count was 29. 3 + 3. 6 and 9. 7 + 1. 3 respectively with spironolactone and 18.6 + 5.8 and 6.4 + 2.1 respectively with cimetidine. The response of acne vulgaris to spironolactone was superior to that of cimetidine and this difference was statistically significant (p<.05). The side effects were minimal and did not necessitate withdrawal of treatment.