Topical application of natural honey, beeswax and olive oil mixture for atopic dermatitis or psoriasis: partially controlled, single-blinded study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of honey, olive oil and beeswax mixture on patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) or psoriasis vulgaris (PV).


METHODS
Twenty-one patients with dermatitis and 18 patients with psoriasis were entered for patient-blinded, partially controlled study; 11 patients with dermatitis used topical betamethasone esters and 10 patients with psoriasis used clobetasol propionate. Honey mixture contained honey, beeswax and olive oil (1:1:1). Mixtures A, B, and C contained honey mixture with the corticosteroids ointment in a ratio of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 respectively. Patients with dermatitis were subjected to controlled bilateral half-body comparison to evaluate the efficacy of honey mixture against Vaseline, or mixture A against Vaseline-betamethasone esters mixture (1:1) in patients using topical corticosteroid treatment. In patients with psoriasis, the effect of honey mixture was compared with paraffin in an individual right/left-sites comparison, or mixture A against paraffin-clobetasol propionate mixture (1:1) in patients using corticosteroid topical therapy. In dermatitis, body lesions on right or left half-body were assessed for erythema, scaling, lichenification, excoriation, indurations, oozing and itching on a 0-4 points scale. In psoriasis, lesions of selected site were assessed for redness, scaling, thickening and itching, on a 0-4 points scale.


RESULTS
In honey mixture group, 8/10 patients with dermatitis showed significant improvement after 2 weeks, and 5/11 patients pretreated with betamethasone esters showed no deterioration upon 75% reduction of corticosteroid doses with use of mixture C. In psoriasis, 5/8 patients showed a significant response to honey mixture. In patients using clobetasol propionate, 5/10 patients showed no deterioration upon 75% reduction of corticosteroid doses with use of mixture C.


CONCLUSIONS
Honey mixture appears useful in the management of dermatitis and psoriasis vulgaris.
Al-Waili
Noori S
NS
Dubai Specialized Medical Center and Medical Research Laboratories, Islamic Establishment for Education, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. noori1966@yahoo.com
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001623:Betamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002990:Clobetasol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006722:Honey; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014885:Waxes / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils; D014885:Waxes; C038228:beeswax; D001623:Betamethasone; D002990:Clobetasol