ANCA-positive crescentic glomerulonephritis associated with minocycline therapy

Minocycline is an oral antibiotic widely used for the long-term treatment of acne and rheumatoid arthritis. A few patients develop antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) during minocycline therapy. In this report, the authors describe a case of severe pauci-immune crescentic and necrotizing glomerulonephritis associated with positive cytoplasmic ANCA (C-ANCA) titers and proteinase 3 (PR3) levels after minocycline therapy. Discontinuation of minocycline and initiation of immunosuppressive treatment resulted in improvement of renal function and decline in C-ANCA titers and PR3 levels. A high degree of suspicion, testing for ANCA titers, prompt discontinuation of the drug, and initiation of immunosuppressive treatment are crucial to the diagnosis and treatment of drug-induced ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis.