title: A randomized, single-blind comparison of topical clindamycin + benzoyl peroxide (Duac) and erythromycin + zinc acetate (Zineryt) in the treatment of mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antibiotics are often combined with other agents to provide topical acne treatments that are effective against both inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions and minimize the development of antibiotic resistance.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the clinical effectiveness of two combination treatments for facial acne: a ready mixed, once daily gel containing clindamycin phosphate (1%) plus benzoyl peroxide (5%) (CDP + BPO) and a twice daily solution of erythromycin (4%) plus zinc acetate (1.2%) (ERY + Zn).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this assessor-blind, randomized study, 73 patients were treated with CDP + BPO once daily and 75 patients with ERY + Zn twice daily. The treatment period was 12 weeks and lesion counts and global improvement were assessed at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CDP + BPO showed an earlier onset of action with a faster significant reduction in total lesion counts than ERY + Zn. The proportion of patients with at least a 30% improvement in non-inflammatory lesions at week 1 was 31.5% for CDP + BPO and 17.3% for ERY + Zn; the corresponding percentages for inflammatory lesions were 39.7% and 29.3%. A difference was also observed at week 2 (53.4% vs. 36.0% for non-inflammatory lesions and 72.6% vs. 53.3% for inflammatory lesions). The trend in favour of CDP + BPO, although less marked, continued to the end of the study, with reductions in the total lesion count at endpoint of 69.8% for CDP + BPO group and 64.5% for ERY + Zn group. Both treatments were well tolerated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CDP + BPO and ERY + Zn are effective treatments for acne but CDP + BPO has an earlier onset of action that should improve patient compliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland. langnera@silesia.top.pl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sheehan-Dare
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Layton
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001585:Benzoyl Peroxide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003652:Decanoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019345:Zinc Acetate / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003652:Decanoic Acids; D003879:Dermatologic Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005782:Gels; C466951:clindamycin phosphate benzoyl peroxide combination; C050860:erythromycin, zinc acetate drug combination; D002981:Clindamycin; D004917:Erythromycin; D019345:Zinc Acetate; D001585:Benzoyl Peroxide