Treatment of Acne with Oral Metronidazole

Metronidazole (Flagyl®) 375 to 500mg per dey was administered orally to 29 patients (7male, 22 female cases, ranging in age from 10 to 32 years) with acne, consisting of 26 with acne vulgaris, including 5 with cystic type, one with acne aestivalis and two with steroid acne. The period of adMinistration was 1 to 7 weeks, 4 weeks on the average. The drug was considered to be markedly effective in 17 cases in which the eruptions had disappeared or almost disappeared, and effective in 7 cases in which eruptions had decreased, with an overall efficacy rate of 83%. The antibacterial activity of metronidazole against propionibacterium acnes is now being studied.