Trial reportClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2012
Doxycycline improves filarial lymphedema independent of active filarial infection: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 62 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Multi-center, Double-blind, Randomized, 24-month Study, to Compare the Efficacy of Doxycycline Once Daily for 6 Weeks Versus Placebo in Improving Filarial Lymphedema Independent of Active Filarial Infection
A Multi-center, Double-blind, Randomized, 24-month Study, to Compare the Efficacy of Doxycycline Once Daily for 6 Weeks Versus Placebo in Improving Filarial Lymphedema Independent of Active Filarial Infection
A Multi-center, Double-blind, Randomized, 24-month Study, to Compare the Efficacy of Doxycycline Once Daily for 6 Weeks Versus Placebo in Improving Filarial Lymphedema Independent of Active Filarial Infection
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Economic evaluations of lymphatic filariasis interventions: a systematic review and research needs.Parasites & vectors · 2018Pooled it
- Self-Care for Management of Secondary Lymphedema: A Systematic Review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Pooled it
- Therapeutic efficacy and macrofilaricidal activity of doxycycline for the treatment of river blindness.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2015Pooled it
- Establishing a filarial clinical research platform in a resource-limited setting: Lessons and experiences from Tanzania.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Trial
- Effect of Adding a Six-Week Course of Doxycycline to Intensive Hygiene-Based Care for Improving Lymphedema in a Rural Setting of Mali: A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled 24-Month Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Adherence to Hygiene Protocols and Doxycycline Therapy in Ameliorating Lymphatic Filariasis Morbidity in an Endemic Area Post-Interruption of Disease Transmission in Ghana.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Adding 6 Weeks of Doxycycline to the Essential Package of Care to Treat Filarial Lymphedema: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial in Southern India.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Efficacy of Intensified Hygiene Measures with or without the Addition of Doxycycline in the Management of Filarial Lymphedema: A Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial in Tanzania.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- LEDoxy-SL: A Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Randomized, 24-Month Trial of Six Weeks of Daily Doxycycline Plus Hygiene-Based Essential Care for Reducing Progression of Filarial Lymphedema in Sri Lanka.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Lymphatic pathology in asymptomatic and symptomatic children with Wuchereria bancrofti infection in children from Odisha, India and its reversal with DEC and albendazole treatment.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Trial
- Comparison of Doxycycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline plus Albendazole and Albendazole Alone in Their Efficacy against Onchocerciasis in a Randomized, Open-Label, Pilot Trial.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Trial
- Lymphatic Endothelial Cells in Health and Disease.MedComm · 2026Review
- Tetracycline Resistance Pattern Among Lymphatic Filariasis-Hyperendemic Communities in Southern Ghana: A Mixed-Method Approach.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Old drugs, new weapons: current trends in repurposing therapies against antimicrobial resistance.Journal of pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences : a publication of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Societe canadienne des sciences pharmaceutiques · 2026Review
- Current perspectives in the epidemiology and control of lymphatic filariasis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Time to consider doxycycline in the standard treatment of lymphatic filariasis? Emerging evidence on use of doxycycline as an adjunct to hygiene protocols.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Article
- Managing Lymphedema Induced by Lymphatic Filariasis: Implementing and Improving Care at the Individual and Programmatic Levels.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Targeting a microbiotaScience advances · 2024Article
- Wuchereria bancrofti Lymphatic Filariasis, Barrancabermeja, Colombia, 2023.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Drug Repurposing in the Chemotherapy of Infectious Diseases.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to determine whether improvement of filarial lymphedema (LE) by doxycycline is restricted to patients with ongoing infection (positive for circulating filarial antigen [CFA]), or whether the majority of CFA-negative patients with LE would also show a reduction in LE severity.
methodsOne hundred sixty-two Ghanaian participants with LE stage 1-5 (Dreyer) were randomized blockwise into 2 groups (CFA positive or negative) and allocated to 3 treatment arms of 6 weeks: (1) amoxicillin (1000 mg/d), (2) doxycycline (200 mg/d), or (3) placebo matching doxycycline. All groups received standard hygiene morbidity management. The primary outcome was reduction of LE stages. Secondary outcomes included frequency of acute attacks and ultrasonographic assessment of skin thickness at the ankles. Parameters were assessed before treatment and after 3, 12, and 24 months.
resultsDoxycycline-treated patients with LE stage 2-3 showed significant reductions in LE severity after 12 and 24 months, regardless of CFA status. Improvement was observed in 43.9% of doxycycline-treated patients, compared with only 3.2% and 5.6% in the amoxicillin and placebo arms, respectively. Skin thickness was correlated with LE stage improvement. Both doxycycline and amoxicillin were able to reduce acute dermatolymphangioadenitis attacks.
conclusionsDoxycycline treatment improves mild to moderate LE independent of ongoing infection. This finding expands the benefits of doxycycline to the entire population of patients suffering from LE. Patients with LE stage 1-3 should benefit from a 6-week course of doxycycline every other year or yearly, which should be considered as an improved tool to manage morbidity in filarial LE. Clinical Trials Registration. ISRCTN 90861344.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.