By Sahil Rawal ‘19

Atopic dermatitis is an autoimmune disease brought forth by various interconnected genetic and environmental factors. This disease is caused by various cytokines that promote the development of other B cells, mast cells, etc., which plays an important role in the onset of dermatitis. One treatments currently utilized is corticosteroids, but its long-term outlook could create negative effects in patients. Studies have also shown that fish oil could produce positive effects on patients with dermatitis, and a main component of fish oil is n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, but it has been previously difficult to pinpoint their exact mechanism, as there are many confounding factors.

Atopic dermatitis is an autoimmune disease brought forth by various interconnected genetic and environmental factors. This disease is caused by various cytokines that promote the development of other B cells, mast cells, etc., which plays an important role in the onset of dermatitis. One treatments currently utilized is corticosteroids, but its long-term outlook could create negative effects in patients. Studies have also shown that fish oil could produce positive effects on patients with dermatitis, and a main component of fish oil is n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, but it has been previously difficult to pinpoint their exact mechanism, as there are many confounding factors.

The researchers concluded that n-3 PUFAs could be used as a way to treat patients with atopic dermatitis. Future studies could concentrate on ways to solely utilize n-3 PUFA extract instead of fish oil as a way to alleviate atopic dermatitis.

References

1. H. Jang, et. al., Atopic Dermatitis-like Skin Lesions are Suppressed in Fat-1 Transgenic Mice Through the Inhibition of Inflammasomes. Experimental and Molecular Medicine 50, (2018). doi: 10.1038/s12276-018-0104-3.  
2. Image retrieved from: https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Dermatitis_atopica_04.JPG