Thursday, April 27, 2006
Kiwi Can Improve Atopic Eczema And Dermatitis
Some find that eating two kiwi a day will improve their skin, others find it may be easier to take in pill form:
A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness of kiwi fruit extract in adults with atopic dermatitis of moderate severitySerena Mraz, MD, Solano Dermatology Associates and Solano Clinical Research, Vallejo, CA, United States; Bruce Miller, MD, Oregon Medical Research, Portland, OR, United States; Alicia Bucko, DO, Eduardo Tschen, MD, Academic Dermatology Associates, Albuquerque, NM, United States
Background:
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease charac- terized by the dysregulation of th1/th2 cytokine systems. Available treatments offer limited long-term efficacy and/or carry significant side effects. There is early preclinical evidence that the kiwi extract (KE) formulation tested has a direct impact on th1/th2 regulation. An effective and safe treatment for the management of AD would have an important impact on the clinical evolution of AD.
Methods:
In all, 51 patients with active AD of moderate severity (age 19-65 years) were enrolled and treated for 42 days with either oral KE or placebo (control). Patients took two capsules once a day. Moderate severity was defined by a physician's global assessment score of 3 and minimum body surface area of 10%. Patients were stabilized with a topical steroid until day 14. Topical steroid use was disallowed for the last 28d ays.Blood and urine were collected at screen days 1, 14, and 42 for urinalysis, biochemistry, and hematology profiles. Measurements of IgE and C-reactive protein were collected at days 1, 14, and 42. Clinical signs and symptoms were measured at study days 1, 14, 28, and 42.
Results:
Of patients, 90% (46) completed the trial. Of the 5 patients who discontinued early, one discontinued because of an AD flare. No patient was discontinued secondary to other adverse events. An interim efficacy analysis conducted when the first 17 patients completed the trial (17 intent to treat and 14 per protocol) showed no significant difference between cohorts in the primary endpoint. Strong trends were detected in the active treatment group for the secondary end points: induration and erythema (n = 9, P = .09 and P = .13, respectively).
Conclusions:
In a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial of 51 adults with active AD of moderate severity, preliminary evidence shows treatment with KE may improve signs and symptoms of the disease.
From Biotech firm picks BrentwoodMark Braman, CEO of the Boulder, Colo.-based Efficas, the company that launched the project, said he is working off of new scientific research showing that hardy kiwi -- a specialized fruit that looks more like a crab apple than it does the more common fuzzy, green kiwi we're used to -- has unparalleled natural healing properties. It's also quite rare, he says, with only about 200 acres planted throughout the world -- in Chili, New Zealand, Oregon, and as of last week, Brentwood.
A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness of kiwi fruit extract in adults with atopic dermatitis of moderate severitySerena Mraz, MD, Solano Dermatology Associates and Solano Clinical Research, Vallejo, CA, United States; Bruce Miller, MD, Oregon Medical Research, Portland, OR, United States; Alicia Bucko, DO, Eduardo Tschen, MD, Academic Dermatology Associates, Albuquerque, NM, United States
Background:
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease charac- terized by the dysregulation of th1/th2 cytokine systems. Available treatments offer limited long-term efficacy and/or carry significant side effects. There is early preclinical evidence that the kiwi extract (KE) formulation tested has a direct impact on th1/th2 regulation. An effective and safe treatment for the management of AD would have an important impact on the clinical evolution of AD.
Methods:
In all, 51 patients with active AD of moderate severity (age 19-65 years) were enrolled and treated for 42 days with either oral KE or placebo (control). Patients took two capsules once a day. Moderate severity was defined by a physician's global assessment score of 3 and minimum body surface area of 10%. Patients were stabilized with a topical steroid until day 14. Topical steroid use was disallowed for the last 28d ays.Blood and urine were collected at screen days 1, 14, and 42 for urinalysis, biochemistry, and hematology profiles. Measurements of IgE and C-reactive protein were collected at days 1, 14, and 42. Clinical signs and symptoms were measured at study days 1, 14, 28, and 42.
Results:
Of patients, 90% (46) completed the trial. Of the 5 patients who discontinued early, one discontinued because of an AD flare. No patient was discontinued secondary to other adverse events. An interim efficacy analysis conducted when the first 17 patients completed the trial (17 intent to treat and 14 per protocol) showed no significant difference between cohorts in the primary endpoint. Strong trends were detected in the active treatment group for the secondary end points: induration and erythema (n = 9, P = .09 and P = .13, respectively).
Conclusions:
In a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial of 51 adults with active AD of moderate severity, preliminary evidence shows treatment with KE may improve signs and symptoms of the disease.
From Biotech firm picks BrentwoodMark Braman, CEO of the Boulder, Colo.-based Efficas, the company that launched the project, said he is working off of new scientific research showing that hardy kiwi -- a specialized fruit that looks more like a crab apple than it does the more common fuzzy, green kiwi we're used to -- has unparalleled natural healing properties. It's also quite rare, he says, with only about 200 acres planted throughout the world -- in Chili, New Zealand, Oregon, and as of last week, Brentwood.
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