the therapeutic effect of borage seeds' oil on psoriasis vulgaris

background: psoriasis is a common chronic and relapsing skin disease with unknown etiology being observed at any age and any gender, having a 1. 5-3% prevalence rate among the general population. psoriatic lesions consist of pruritic and scaling papules, residing on an erythematous base, which are more commonly found on the scalp, extensor surfaces, palms and soles, and the nails. the conventional treatment of psoriasis includes prescribing topical and systemic corticosteroids. investigations have revealed that patients suffering psoriasis have free fatty acid deficiency and that eliminating this deficiency alleviates or even cures the signs and symptoms of the disease. borage is a rich source of gamma-linolenic acid, the therapeutic effect of which has been proved in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. the present research was performed to determine the therapeutic effect of borage seeds' oil on psoriatic lesions. materials and methods: the present double-blind clinical trial study carried out on adult patients suffering psoriasis vulgaris in the dermatology clinic of shohadaye ashayer hospital (khorramabad, iran) in 2008, borage seeds' oil was first prepared by the research colleague and was prescribed randomly (and alternatively with eucerin oil) to the patients, being used topically on the lesions bid6 for 4 weeks. the subjects were examined twice (once before prescribing the drug and once after using the drug for 4 weeks) by a dermatologist and were evaluated regarding the pasi criterion (a measure for determining the surface area and the severity of the lesions). finally, the mean pasi criterion was determined before and after using borage oil/placebo and the results were analyzed using spss software. results: the subjects consisted of 40 females (60. 6%) and 26 males (39. 4%) 34. 8% of the subjects were < 20 yrs old and 65. 2% were >20 yrs old. the subjects' mean pasi criterion was 16. 78 ± 8. 82 before using the drug and placebo, and was 12. 57 ± 16. 07 afterwards. the mean decrease in the pasi criterion was interpreted as a measure of lesion improvement. the results of t-test revealed a statistically significant difference between pasi criteria obtained before and after using borage oil in the case group ( p < 0. 001 ) while this difference wasn't statistically significant before and after using placebo in the control group ( p = 0. 712). using the paired samples test, the difference in mean pasi decrease before and after using borage seeds' oil was 9. 66 ± 7. 33, while it was -1. 23 ± 19. 13 before and after using eucerin (95% confidence interval ). conclusion: regarding the statistically significant difference between the pasi scores of the subjects in the two groups, and also the distinctive improvement of the lesions treated with borage oil, we recommend other studies to be performed using larger samples and different concentrations of borage oil.