A study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, examined the risk of developing Clostridium difficile infection with tetracyclines compared to other antibiotics.
Researchers searched Medline, Embase and Web of Science from January 1978 through December 2016 to identify studies that assessed the association between tetracycline use and risk of C. diff. They included six studies, four case control and two cohort, with patient recruitment between 1993 and 2012.
The researchers found that that tetracyclines were associated with a decreased risk of C. diff. Additionally, subgroup analysis of studies that evaluated the risk of C. diff with doxycycline alone also demonstrated a decreased risk of the infection.
"It may be reasonable to use tetracyclines whenever appropriate to decrease CDI associated with antibiotic use," study authors concluded.