Atopic dermatitis and essential fatty acids: a biochemical basis for atopy?

The effects of dietary supplementation with evening primrose oil (Efamol) in 99 patients with atopic dermatitis were investigated in a double blind, controlled crossover study. Simultaneously, plasma phospholipid essential fatty acid status was determined in 50 of these patients before and after treatment. In a separate study, lymphocyte subsets and mitogen responses were investigated in 15 atopic patients before and after treatment. The conclusion is that evening primrose oil improves atopic dermatitis; an abnormality of the enzyme delta-6-desaturase is proposed to explain the biochemical findings. Finally, it is concluded that the therapeutic effect of evening primrose oil is unlikely to be mediated through a primarily immunological mechanism.