Reduction of oral tetracycline of lipolysis of triglycerides in hair lipid

Abstract

Oral tetracycline hydrochloride (Amphocycline) reduced significantly (P less than 0.05) the mean free fatty acid/triglyceride (FAA/TG) ratio in hair lipid, from 1.56 to 0.47 after treatment for 4 weeks, and to 0.64 after treatment for 8 weeks in 15 young men and women undergoing treatment for acne vulgaris. In a second similar group of 16 subjects who received the same oral therapy with antibiotic but who also applied a 10% (w/v) solution of ethyl lactate twice daily to affected areas on the face, the mean FFA/TG ratio was also reduced significantly (P less than 0.05) from 1.25 to 0.61 (after 4 weeks) and to 0.64 (after 8 weeks). In a third group of 16 subjects, whose only treatment was local application of ethyl lactate solution, the mean FFA/TG ratio was essentially unchanged throughout the period of treatment from 1,15, being 1.50 and 1.22 after 4 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively.