Prevention of aphtous stomatitis with α-linolenic acid -a double-blind study-

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Forty-three subjects (11 males and 32 females; the mean age: 43 years) who suffered from aphthous stomatitis at least once a month were recruited, and the preventive effects of perilla oil were tested in a double-blind study. For the first 4 months, all the subjects were asked to use salad oil (a 50-50 mixture of soybean oil and rapeseed oil) as cocking oil in order to control the starting conditions of the study subjects (run-in period). Also they were asked to reduce their cocking oil consumption. At the end of the run-in period, they were randomly assigned either to a perilla oil group or a control group. In the perilla oil group they used perilla oil as a cooking oil for 8 months and not to use other cooking oils (experimental period). In the control group they used soybean oil only. For the whole experimental period (12 months), subjects were asked to mark the days when they suffered from aphthous stomatitis on the calendar we provided.There were no significant differences in the fatty acid composition of the RBC phospholipid fraction between the perilla and control groups. There were no significant differences in the incidence of stomatitis between the two groups, either. However, if the two groups were combined, the total number of stomatitis was significantly reduced (2.8±1.3/month in the run-in period to 2.0±1.3/month in the experimental period, p<0.0001). The reason why the incidence was reduced was not clear, but the followings might be possible: (1) Rapeseed oil, which was not used in the experimental period, was responsible for stomatitis, and (2) there were placebo effects in both groups.