A Randomized, Double-Blind, Multicenter, Parallel Group Study to Compare Relative Efficacies of the Topical Gels 3% Erythromycin/5% Benzoyl Peroxide and 0.025% Tretinoin/Erythromycin 4% in the Treatment of Moderate Acne Vulgaris of the Face
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Combination treatments for acne vulgaris, such as Benzamycin (3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide) and Stievamycin (0.025% tretinoin/erythromycin 4%), reduce bacterial growth, which contributes to the inflammatory lesions typical of adolescent acne, and also decrease the epidermal cell compaction which may form the characteristic noninflammatory comedone. Both agents contain erythromycin to reduce the growth of Propionibacterium acnes in skin. Benzoyl peroxide has antibiotic activity as well as anticomedogenic properties. Tretinoin may increase the turnover of epidermal cells and loosen the cells compacted to form comedones. A combination preparation containing the two antibiotics may reduce the development of resistance; the combination preparation containing tretinoin and erythromycin will have an antibiotic effect as well as acting on differentiation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel group study compared the effectiveness of 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide and 0.025% tretinoin/erythromycin 4%, each applied twice daily in patients with moderate acne vulgaris. Overall physician and patient ratings of severity of acne symptoms were performed at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12. RESULTS: At baseline the two treatment groups had similar disease severity. The number of papules, pustules, and comedones was reduced in both treatment groups at week 12, and the reductions were not significantly different between the two comparators. Global physician rating of improvement was significantly higher in the 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide group compared with the 0.025% tretinoin/erythromycin 4% group; however, there was no significant difference in global patient ratings between the two treatment groups. An aggregate score was produced, for both physician rating and patient rating, by adding up individual symptom severity ratings. Compared with 0.025% tretinoin/erythromycin 4%, 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide provided significantly greater reduction in both physician- and patient-rated severity of acne symptoms; there was a significant difference between the two groups as early as week 2. The 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide demonstrated significantly greater reduction of erythema and scaling, as evaluated by the study physician, compared with tretinoin 0.025%/erythromycin 4%. Patients judged 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide to have a significantly greater effect on redness, dryness, oiliness, and burning. CONCLUSION: In moderate acne vulgaris, 3% erythromycin/5% benzoyl peroxide may provide a greater beneficial effect than 0.025% tretinoin/erythromycin 4%.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.005 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.007 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".