Spironolactone Therapy Side Effects in Women
with Acne
Title: Effects and side-effects of spironolactone
therapy in women with acne
Authors: Yemisci A, Gorgulu A, Piskin S.
Publication: J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2005
Mar;19(2):163-6.
Spironolactone is an androgen or male sex hormone receptor blocker,
and since male sex hormone has been shown to cause acne, the authors
wanted to test whether it can be used as acne treatment in women.
In this study, the authors gave 35 female acne patients 100 mg
/ day of spironolactone for 16 days per month for a total of 3
months. Six patients dropped out of the study (because of side
effects and lack of follow up), so out of the remaining 24 patients,
significant improvement was seen in about 86% of the cases, evaluated
by counting the acne lesion before and after treatment. When their
blood was tested, these patients had decreased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone
sulfate (DHEAS), but no change in their levels of testosterone.
The author concluded that despite the high side-effects, spironolactone
can be an effective acne treatment for the majority of women.
