DHA May Impact Eczema

BERLIN—The British Journal of Dermatology published a pilot study from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin investigating the role of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in patients with atopic eczema, in an attempt to connect the reduced consumption of omega-3 PUFAs in the Western diet with an increased prevalence of atopic eczema. This double blind, randomized, controlled trial recruited 53 patients, aged 18 to 40 years old, who received 5.4 g/d DHA (n=21) or an isoenergetic control of saturated fatty acid (n=23) for eight weeks. IgE production and activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed; clinical outcome was assessed by the SCORAD (severity scoring of atopic dermatitis) index at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 20.

Subjects who consumed DHA had a significant clinical improvement of atopic eczema and decreased SCORAD index. At baseline, the DHA group scored 37.0 (17.9 to 48.0), and at eight weeks the score was 28.5 (17.6 to 51.0). The control group scored 35.4 (17.2 to 63.0) at baseline; and at week eight scored 33.4 (10.7 to 56.2). Additionally, the DHA group possessed a significant reduction of anti-CD40/interleukin 4-mediated IgE synthesis of PBMC, an increase of plasma omega-3 PUFA and a decrease in the omega-3/omega-6 ratio. While the researchers noted dietary DHA does appear to be bioactive and positively impact atopic eczema, they suggested a larger study should be conducted to confirm the findings.

var loc = window.location.pathname;var nt=String(Math.random()).substr(2,10);document.write ('');