Summary
The effects of 10 ml of evening primrose oil or olive oil, administered twice daily for 12 weeks, on clinical and laboratory signs and on plasma prostaglandins were studied in 18 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The plasma concentration of PGE2 decreased and that of TxB2 increased in both treatment groups, but no significant improvement could be seen in either group.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Homsy, J., Morrow, W.J.W., Levy, J.A. Nutrition and autoimmunity: a review. Clin Exp Immunol 1986, 65, 473–488.
Kunkel, S.L., Ogawa, H., Ward, P.A., Zurier, R.B. Suppression of chronic inflammation by evening primrose oil. Progr Lipid Res 1982, 20, 885–888.
Darlington, L.G. Do diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids affect disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis? Ann Rheum Dis 1988, 47, 169–172.
Wright, S., Burton, J.L. Oral evening-primrose-seed oil improves atopic eczema. Lancet 1982, 2, 1120–1122.
Stenius-Aarniala, B., Aro, A., Hakulinen, A., Seppälä, E., Vapaatalo, H. Evening primrose oil and fish oil are ineffective in bronchial asthma. Allergy 1989, in press.
Oxholm, P., Manthorpe, R., Prause, J.U., Horrobin, D. Patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome treated for two months with evening primrose oil. Scand J Rheumatol 1986, 15, 103–108.
Mørk Hansen, T., Lerche, A., Kassis, V., Lorenzen, I., Søndergaard, J. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with prostaglandin E, precursors cis-linoleic acid and γ-linolenic acid. Scand J Rheumatol 1983, 12, 85–88.
Belch, J.J.F., Ansell, D., Madhok, R., O'Dowd, A., Sturrock, R.D. Effects of altering dietary essentiał fatty acids on requirements for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a double blind placebo controlled study. Ann Rheum Dis 1988, 47, 96–104.
Darlington, L.G., Ramsay, N.W. Olive oil for rheumatoid patients? Br J Rheumatol 1987, Suppl 2, 215.
Jäntti, J., Isomäki, H., Laitinen, O., Nikkari, T., Seppälä, E., Vapaatalo, H. Linoleic acid treatment in inflammatory arthritis. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther Toxicol 1985, 23, 89–91.
Seppälä, E., Pora, O., Metsä-Ketelä, T. A modified method for extraction and purification of prostaglandins with resin XAD-2. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes Med 1984, 14, 235–241.
Riutta, A., Seppälä, E., Vapaatalo, H. A rapid and sensitive method for detecting different arachidonic acid metabolities by thin-layer chromatography: the use of autoradiography. J Chromatogr 1984, 307, 185–189.
Leaf, A., Weber, P.C. Medical progress. Cardiovascular effects of n-3 fatty acids. N Engl J Med 1988, 318, 549–557.
Kremer, J.M., Michalek, A.V., Lininger, L., Huyck, C., Bigauoette, J., Timchalk, M.A., Rynes, R.I., Zieminski, J., Bartholomew, L.E. Effects of manipulation of dietary fatty acids on clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet 1985, 1, 184–186.
Kremer, J.M., Jubiz, W., Michalek, A., Rynes, R.I., Bartholomew, L.E., Bigauoette, J., Timchalk, M., Beeler, D., Lininger, L. Fish-oil fatty acid supplementation in active rheumatoid arthritis. A double-blind, controlled, crossover study. Ann Intern Med 1987, 106, 497–502.
Panush, R.S. Nutritional therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Intern Med 1987, 106, 619–621.
Jäntti, J., Nikkari, T., Solakivi, T., Vapaatalo, H., Isomäki, H. Evening primrose oil in rheumatoid arthritis: changes in serum lipids and fatty acids. Ann Rheum Dis, 1988, 48, 124–127.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jäntti, J., Seppälä, E., Vapaatalo, H. et al. Evening primrose oil and olive oil in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 8, 238–244 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02030080
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02030080