Fish oil supplementation results in decreased hypertriglyceridemia in patients with psoriasis undergoing etretinate or acitretin therapy.

Although retinoid derivatives are an effective treatment for severe psoriasis, they result in systemic toxicity, including hyperlipidemia. In an attempt to reverse this retinoid-related hyperlipidemia in patients with psoriasis, a prospective 4-week pilot study of fish oil supplementation was carried out in 25 patients with psoriasis vulgaris receiving etretinate (Ro-10-9359) or acitretin (Ro 10-1670). Daily fish oil supplements containing 3 gm of omega-3 fatty acids (1.8 gm of eicosapentaenoic acid 20:5 omega 3, and 1.2 gm of docosahexaenoic acid 22:6 omega 3) were found to be effective in reducing hypertriglyceridemia, with a significant mean reduction from 215.6 +/- 92.5 to 156.9 +/- 58.5 mg/dl (-27%) when compared with controls (203.6 +/- 46.9 to 204.1 +/- 54.3 mg/dl). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased from 41.4 +/- 10.5 to 46.1 +/- 10.8 mg/dl (+11%), and the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased from 6.6 +/- 1.9 to 5.9 +/- 1.7 (-11%). It is concluded that fish oil supplementation may prove a valuable adjunct to ameliorate the lipid changes secondary to retinoids.