Fewer adverse effects with doxycycline than with minocycline.

(1) In mid-2008 the French National Pharmacovigilance Committee examined spontaneous reports of adverse effects observed during tetracycline therapy; (2) When sales figures are taken into account, reports were more frequent with minocycline than with doxycycline. The proportion of severe adverse effects was also higher with minocycline than with doxycycline; (3) Life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions and autoimmune adverse effects were more frequent with minocycline than with doxycycline; (4) In practice, minocycline has a less favourable risk-benefit balance than doxycycline, particularly in the treatment of acne.