Does supplementation with omega 3's help reduce isotretinoin symptoms?

 Omega 3 supplements helps dry skin and dry nose - but only a bit .

Several groups have been interested in examining whether omega 3 supplements help the dry eyes, dry lips, dry nose and dry skin that comes from use of isotretinoin.

Mirnezami  and Rahimi, 2018

The best study to data is a 2018 study by Mirnezami  and Rahimi. The study was a case-control study and included a total of 104 patients with acne vulgaris. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. The case group received oral isotretinoin (0.5 mg/kg) plus omega-3 soft gel capsules (1 g/day; Nature Made Company, CA, USA) and the control group received only oral isotretinoin with the same dose for 16 weeks. The case group included 50 patients and the control group included 54. The subjects were 67 females (64.4%) and 37 males (35.6%).  The mean age of patients was 22.8 ± 4.9 years and the mean duration of the disease was 4.9 ± 3.6 years.

Mucocutaneous side effects of isotretinoin, including dry skin, dry lips, nose dryness and crusting/epistaxis, and eye conjunctivitis were assessed in both groups by a dermatologist who was blind to the study at baseline and weeks 4, 8, 12, and 16.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY:

Dry lips, dry nose, dry eyes and dry skin were evaluated. At week 16, isotretinoin users who used omega 3 fatty acid supplements were less likely to report dry skin and dry nose – but the differences was very slight. For example, 11.1 % of isotretinoin users had dry skin compared to 2 % of isotretinoin/omega 3 users (p=0.013). Similarly, 11 % of istotretinoin users reported a dry nose  compared to 0 % of the isotretinoin/omega users (p=0.001). There was no difference in dry lips at week 16 (although there was some benefit at weeks, 4 and 8 and 12) and no difference in dry lips at week 16 (although there was some benefit at week 4).

Conclusions

It does not appear that omega supplementation is a big game changer in addressing isotretinoin side effects. It has a slight role - maybe. More studies are needed to better understand the use of omega 3 supplements to reduce isotretinoin side effects.

REFERENCE

Mirnezami M and Rahimi H. Is Oral Omega-3 Effective in Reducing Mucocutaneous Side Effects of Isotretinoin in Patients with Acne Vulgaris? Dermatol Res Pract. 2018 May 29;2018:6974045.