The Effect of Omega-3 with Topical Steroid on the Treatment of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic recurrent skin disease and different drugs and methods such as topical steroids, dithranol, cool tar, cytotoxic drugs, and retinoic acid are used as treatments for this disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of omega-3 capsules as an adjuvant drug on the treatment of psoriasis. The present clinical-trial included 60 patients with mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. The patients were randomly divided into two equal groups, intervention and control groups. The patients in the intervention group received topical steroid and two omega-3 capsules for a one month period. Each capsule of omega-3 contained 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg of DHA. The control group received only topical steroid. Patients were clinically assessed for the presence of inflammation, redness, itching and scaling. The collected data was analyzed SPSS software. Most patients (15 patients of the intervention group and 14 patients of the control group) were between 20 and 29 years of age. Sixty percent of the patients of the intervention group and 66.7 % of the patients of the control groups were female. The most frequent sites involved by skin lesions were extensor surface of the extremities, nail and scalp. Cure rate were 100% and 76.6% in intervention and control group, respectively. The difference in cure rate in two groups was statistically significant (p=0.001). Omega-3, as an adjuvant drug, is beneficial in the treatment of psoriasis and considering its low cost it can be used for the patients suffering from this disease.