Minocycline for rheumatoid arthritis.

Minocycline may prove to be a valuable agent in adjunctive treatment of RA. The use of minocycline is attractive because of its relatively benign adverse effect profile in common dosages, although vestibular toxicity has occurred frequently when doses of 400 mg/d have been used. Adverse effects that do occur usually subside after discontinuation of the drug. Currently, the studies available offer no definitive conclusion concerning the use of tetracyclines for this purpose. These trials do show promise, however, and suggest that larger, controlled, double-blind studies with prolonged use of minocycline in patients are needed for confirmation of its efficacy in RA.