Minocycline
Minocycline. Tetracycline — 30S ribosomal inhibitor. Higher CNS penetration than doxycycline (anti-inflammatory neuro-applications studied).… Oral half-life 16 h.
Tetracycline — 30S ribosomal inhibitor. Higher CNS penetration than doxycycline (anti-inflammatory neuro-applications studied). First-line for inflammatory acne; vestibular side effects (~10%) worse than doxycycline. PK (Minocin label 2024, capsule formulation): Cmax 2.1–5.1 µg/mL (avg 3.5 µg/mL), Tmax 1–4 h (avg 2.1 h), t½ 11.1–22.1 h (avg 15.5 h), oral absorption virtually complete (F ≈ 0.95). High-fat meal does not change extent of absorption but delays Tmax by 1 h. Highly lipophilic of the tetracyclines — good CSF + sebaceous-gland penetration.
PK: all five stored values were unsupported and the ORAL row hung on an INTRAVENOUS-ONLY study. Re-sourced: the oral row to Athanassa 2025 (PMID:40132622), 24 critically ill adults on oral minocycline, verbatim "183.3 L, 6.55 L/h and 1.66 h-1, for the apparent volume of distribution (V/F), the apparent clearance (CL/F) and the absorption rate constant" — F is pinned to 1 because that volume is apparent; and the half-life to Simon 1976 (PMID:782466), verbatim "Half-life was calculated as 15.7 h" after a 200 mg intravenous infusion. The stored 15.5 h is stated nowhere. No human absolute bioavailability for minocycline exists in any abstract, so the stored 0.95 is dropped rather than replaced.
Pharmacokinetics
- Oral — t½ 15.7 h · F 100% · Vd 183.3 L
- IV — t½ 15.7 h · F 100%
Sources: PMID:33168615, PMID:40132622, PMID:782466