Macrolides in Chronic Inflammatory Skin Disorders

Long-term therapy with the macrolide antibiotic erythromycin was shown to alter the clinical course of diffuse panbronchiolitis in the late 1980s. Since that time, macrolides have been found to have a large number of anti-inflammatory properties in addition to being antimicrobials. These observation...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abdullateef A. Alzolibani, Khaled Zedan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2012-01-01
Series:Mediators of Inflammation
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/159354
Description
Summary:Long-term therapy with the macrolide antibiotic erythromycin was shown to alter the clinical course of diffuse panbronchiolitis in the late 1980s. Since that time, macrolides have been found to have a large number of anti-inflammatory properties in addition to being antimicrobials. These observations provided the rationale for many studies performed to assess the usefulness of macrolides in other inflammatory diseases including skin and hair disorders, such as rosacea, psoriasis, pityriasis rosea, alopecia areata, bullous pemphigoid, and pityriasis lichenoides. This paper summarizes a collection of clinical studies and case reports dealing with the potential benefits of macrolides antibiotics in the treatment of selected dermatoses which have primarily been classified as noninfectious and demonstrating their potential for being disease-modifying agents.
ISSN:0962-9351
1466-1861