Dietary supplementation with very long-chain n-3 fatty acids in patients with atopic dermatitis. A double-blind, multicentre study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether fish oil and/or corn oil had a beneficial effect on the clinical state of atopic dermatitis, and to evaluate the dietary intake of nutrients in this group of patients. In a double-blind, multicentre study lasting 4 months, during wintertime, 145 patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis were randomly assigned to receive either 6 g/day of concentrated n-3 fatty acids, or an isoenergetic amount of corn oil. As local treatment, only an emollient cream or hydrocortisone cream was allowed. The fatty acid pattern in serum phospholipids, and the dietary intake of nutrients were monitored in a subgroup of patients, and the results were compared with a group of patients with psoriasis. The overall clinical score, as evaluated by the physicians, improved during the trial by 30% in the fish oil (P < 0.001) and 24% in the corn oil group (P < 0.001). This was also consistent with the results from a selected skin area, and it was further confirmed by the total subjective clinical score reported by the patients. There were no significant differences in the clinical scores between the two groups at baseline, and at the end of the study. In the fish oil group, the amount of n-3 fatty acids in serum phospholipids was significantly increased at the end of the trial, compared with pretreatment values (P < 0.001), whereas the level of n-6 fatty acids was decreased (P < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dietary habits among patients with atopic dermatitis

“…In the much larger double-blind, multi-centre study, in which our presently studied atopic patients participated, dietary supplementation with very long-chain n-3 fatty acids or corn oil, both types of oil supplementation caused a signi®cant clinical improvement, compared with baseline scores, but there was no signi®cant difference between the two groups (Sùyland et al, 1994). Thus, the lack of correlation between intake of n-3 fatty acids and expression of dermatitis is in accordance with the lacking effects of n-3 fatty acids supplementation (Sùyland et al, 1994).…”

“…One hundred forty-®ve men and women with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, according to the criteria of Hani®n & Rajka (1980), were recruited to a clinical trial where the effect of supplementation with very long-chain n-3 fatty acids was studied (Sùyland et al, 1994). The participants were selected among outpatients from all ®ve departments of dermatology at Norwegian University hospitals.…”

“…Erythema, induration, pruritus, licheni®cation, scaling and area involved in atopic dermatitis were scored according to a 10-point scale. The highest score (10) represented severe dermatitis, whereas 0 represented no clinical signs or symptoms (Sùyland et al, 1994). Clinical data were available from 45 men and 91 women.…”

“…However, for adult patients, food hypersensitivity seems to be less important during development of the disease, and food restriction might be exaggerated. Very little documented information is available about the dietary habits among adult patients with atopic dermatitis, except from some intervention studies (Soter & Fitzpatrick, 1987;Bjùrneboe et al, 1987;Sùyland et al, 1994). Therefore, we evaluated the intake of foods and nutrients in a group of adult patients with moderate or severe atopic dermatitis.…”

Intake of very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids related to social status and lifestyle

“…The intake of very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids is described in clinical trials (Bùnaa et al, 1990;Sùyland et al, 1994;Brude et al, 1997), selected groups (Bang et al, 1980;Tjùnneland et al, 1993;Nydahl et al, 1996;Hjartaker et al, 1997) and prospective studies (Morris et al, 1995;Ascherio et al, 1995;Dolecek, 1992;Pietinen et al, 1997), but little information is available about the intake of very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids in random samples of populations (Steingrimsdottir et al, 1995). We therefore assessed the intake and sources of very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids and related the intake to socio-demographic and life-style variables in a national dietary survey.…”