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.