{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T20:09:21Z","timestamp":1792008561391,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,15]],"date-time":"2021-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634256000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder of the follicular epithelium. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of colchicine on the clinical outcomes of HS patients, and to evaluate wither colchicine as monotherapy or in combination with doxycycline would provide better outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted including 44 patients with established HS, divided into three groups. The first group (n = 15 patients) received colchicine as monotherapy, the second group (n = 14 patients) received colchicine and doxycycline 100 mg\/d, while the third group (n = 15 patients) received colchicine and doxycycline 40 mg\/d. Disease severity during treatment was assessed at baseline and follow-up, using the Hurley Scoring System and the International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4). All patients were also asked to complete a Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. These scores were compared among the study groups. Results: The DLQI and IHS4 scores significantly improved after treatment with colchicine (p &lt; 0.001) in all groups. All colchicine regimes, including the single colchicine regime, colchicine plus doxycycline 100 mg regime, and colchicine plus doxycycline 40 mg regime, resulted in significant improvements in the DLQI and IHS4 scores (p &lt; 0.001). Clinical improvement based on DLQI and IHS4 scores was similar in all groups. None of the patients had to discontinue the treatment due to adverse events. Discussion: In conclusion, our findings suggest that colchicine may improve clinical severity and quality of life in HS patients, either as monotherapy or in combination with doxycycline, both at antimicrobial (100 mg) and sub-antimicrobial (40 mg) doses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10204742","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,17]],"date-time":"2021-10-17T23:05:47Z","timestamp":1634511947000},"page":"4742","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Colchicine Improves Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Life in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients: A Retrospective Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Aikaterini I.","family":"Liakou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georgios","family":"Kontochristopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Efthymia","family":"Agiasofitou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3695-0759","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas G.","family":"Tsantes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Haematology and Blood Bank Unit, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAttikon\u201d General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9020-874X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marios","family":"Papadakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery II, University of Witten Herdecke, 58455 Wuppertal, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ioannis","family":"Marnelakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Konstantina A.","family":"Tsante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Haematology and Blood Bank Unit, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAttikon\u201d General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anastasia","family":"Kapsiocha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandros","family":"Katoulis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Second Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAttikon\u201d General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stamatios","family":"Gregoriou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitris","family":"Rigopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Dermatology-Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u201cAndreas Sygros\u201d Hospital for Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases, 16121 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1159\/000332846","article-title":"The anti-inflammatory drug colchicine lacks efficacy in hidradenitis suppurativa","volume":"223","author":"Prens","year":"2011","journal-title":"Dermatology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1159\/000508528","article-title":"Thyroid Disease and Active Smoking May Be Associated with More Severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Data from a Prospective Cross Sectional Single-Center Study","volume":"237","author":"Liakou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Dermatology"},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"1","article-title":"Hidradenitis suppurativa: A practical review of possible medical treatments based on over 350 hidradenitis patients","volume":"19","author":"Scheinfeld","year":"2013","journal-title":"Derm. Online J."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"503","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejim.2010.09.010","article-title":"Colchicine in clinical medicine. A guide for internists","volume":"21","author":"Cocco","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur. J. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.1111\/ajd.12795","article-title":"Colchicine in dermatology: A review","volume":"59","author":"Robinson","year":"2018","journal-title":"Australas. J. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"346","DOI":"10.1111\/ijd.13428","article-title":"Hidradenitis suppurativa treated with tetracycline in combination with colchicine: A prospective series of 20 patients","volume":"56","author":"Armyra","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1159\/000431175","article-title":"Hidradenitis Suppurativa\/Acne Inversa: Criteria for Diagnosis, Severity Assessment, Classification and Disease Evaluation","volume":"231","author":"Zouboulis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Dermatology"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2230.1994.tb01167.x","article-title":"Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI)\u2014A simple practical measure for routine clinical use","volume":"19","author":"Finlay","year":"1994","journal-title":"Clin. Exp. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1401","DOI":"10.1111\/bjd.15748","article-title":"Development and validation of the International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4), a novel dynamic scoring system to assess HS severity","volume":"177","author":"Zouboulis","year":"2017","journal-title":"Br. J. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S42","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaad.2015.07.049","article-title":"Scientific evidence for the use of current traditional systemic therapies in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa","volume":"73","author":"Alhusayen","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Am. Acad. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1633","DOI":"10.1111\/jdv.15519","article-title":"Quality of life measurement in hidradenitis suppurativa: Position statement of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology task forces on Quality of Life and Patient-Oriented Outcomes and Acne, Rosacea and Hidradenitis Suppurativa","volume":"33","author":"Chernyshov","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Eur. Acad. Dermatol. Venereol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"659","DOI":"10.1111\/j.0022-202X.2005.23621.x","article-title":"Translating the Science of Quality of Life into Practice: What Do Dermatology Life Quality Index Scores Mean?","volume":"125","author":"Hongbo","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Investig. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.2165\/11204850-000000000-00000","article-title":"Doxycycline 40 mg capsules (30 mg immediate-release\/10 mg delayed-release beads): Anti-inflammatory dose in rosacea","volume":"11","author":"McKeage","year":"2010","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"581","article-title":"Efficacy and Safety of Subantimicrobial Dose, Modified-Release Doxycycline 40 mg Versus Doxycycline 100 mg Versus Placebo for the treatment of Inflammatory Lesions in Moderate and Severe Acne: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Controlled Study","volume":"14","author":"Moore","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Drugs Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e163","DOI":"10.1161\/01.ATV.0000138071.21565.7e","article-title":"Subantimicrobial doses of tetracycline","volume":"24","author":"Pallasch","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol."}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/10\/20\/4742\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:15:46Z","timestamp":1760166946000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/10\/20\/4742"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,15]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm10204742"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm10204742","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,15]]}}}