Minocycline (Amzeeq®)

Pregnancy

Available data for the use of topical minocycline in pregnant women are insufficient to evaluate whether topical minocycline may increase the risk of major birth defects, miscarriage, or other adverse maternal or fetal outcomes.

Systemic absorption of minocycline in humans is low following once daily topical administration, even at higher doses. Thus, it is not expected that maternal use of topical minocycline will result in significant fetal exposure to the drug.

However, as with other tetracycline-class drugs when administered orally (not topically) during pregnancy, oral minocycline may cause permanent discoloration of teeth and reversible inhibition of bone growth. Whether topical administration of minocycline has the same potential of causing fetal harm is not known due to the lack of well-controlled clinical studies.

Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with topical minocycline. However, oral administration of minocycline to pregnant rats and rabbits during the earlier parts of pregnancy, induced skeletal malformations in fetuses.

Since the use of tetracycline-class antibiotic drugs can cause serious adverse effects after oral administration during pregnancy and there is a lack of adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women regarding topical minocycline, topical minocycline should only be applied during pregnancy if clearly necessary.

Be sure to talk to your doctor before using topical minocycline when pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

Breastfeeding

Tetracycline-class drugs, including minocycline, are present in breast milk following oral (not topical) administration. When it comes to topical administration on the nursing mother, it is not known whether minocycline is present in human milk. There is no data on the effects of topical minocycline on milk production.

Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions when administered orally, and because of a lack of data regarding topical administration, breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with topical minocycline.