The treatment of bullous pemphigoid with tetracycline and niacinamide. A preliminary report.

Patients with moderate to severe bullous pemphigoid are usually treated with systemic corticosteroids. Four patients were treated with tetracycline hydrochloride and niacinamide because of the steroid-sparing anti-inflammatory properties of these agents. An excellent clinical response free of side effects was observed in all patients. The lesions recurred whenever treatment was discontinued. It is believed that these drugs suppress the complement-mediated inflammatory response at the basement membrane zone by suppressing neutrophil chemotaxis and mediators of the inflammatory response in this bullous disease.