Background: Dietary supplementation with essential fatty acids and polyunsaturated lecithin may improve biochemical and histological parameters in liver disease.
Methods: Ten patients with serological and histological evidence of chronic hepatitis B received capsules of the polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich evening primrose oil in a dose of 4 g daily for 12 months, while a matched group received liquid paraffin capsules as a placebo.
Results: Compared to the placebo group, the patients receiving evening primrose oil showed no improvement in either biochemical or histological indices of liver damage, or in the rate of loss of circulating e antigen.
Conclusions: Dietary, supplementation with this dose of essential fatty acids is unlikely to be of benefit in chronic hepatitis B.