title: Doxycycline or oral corticosteroids for nasal polyps.
abstract: The study by Van Zele et al reports positive results for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that used either 20 days of doxycycline (200 mg the first day, followed by 100 mg daily) or 20 days of a tapering schedule of methyl prednisolone (32 mg on days 1-5, 16 mg on days 6-10, and 8 mg on days 11-20) for the treatment of nasal polyps. The primary end point was reduction in nasal polyp score which was graded 0 to 4 on each side, resulting in a score range of 0 to 8; the score was determined at baseline and weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12. Entry criteria required that the patient either have recurrent polyps after surgery or massive polyps (grade 3 or 4); the total polyp score in each of the 3 groups averaged approximately 6. The patient population in this study was therefore at the severe end of the spectrum; results may not be generalizable to patients with milder disease.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill. Electronic address: l-grammer@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Leslie C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Grammer
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009298:Nasal Polyps / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D004318:Doxycycline; D008775:Methylprednisolone
keywords: Doxycycline; Methyl prednisolone; Polyps