Management of premenstrual acne with Cox-2 inhibitors: a placebo controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Premenstrual acne is poorly understood, the accepted hypothesis is 30 years old. AIMS: Here we test the hypothesis that premenstrual acne can be suppressed using Cox-2 inhibitors. METHODS: Eighty women with premenstrual acne were enrolled in a trial where they were given rofecoxib, a Cox-2 inhibitor or placebo for 10 days for two cycles and were evaluated using acne severity index and inflammatory acne counts. RESULTS: Rofecoxib was more effective than the placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Although the number studied is small, the results suggest that rofecoxib is effective in the management of premenstrual acne and that prostaglandin PGE2 may be involved in its pathogenesis.