Complementary treatment of psoriasis with an AFA-phycocyanins product: a preliminary 10-cases study.

Background: Psoriasis is a difficult and complex pathology, involving diverse etiological factors, from inflammation to psychological stress. Its treatment with biologic and chemical drugs is not always successful, and may generate also relevant side effects. In recent years, phycocyanins from blue-green algae have demonstrated powerful antinflammatory and antioxidant properties. A specific extract of Klamath AFA algae (Aphanizomenon flos aquae) concentrates a peculiar type of particularly active phycocyanins (AFA-phycocyanins), and is also naturally rich in the endogenous neuromodulator phenylethylamine (PEA). Objectives: We have thus decided to test the effect of a natural product (PhycoZym ®), whose main active ingredient is the AFA extract AfaMax ® to establish on a preliminary basis its effects, as a complementary treatment, on psoriatic patients. Patients: 10 subjects, with different types of psoriatic diseases and responding only scarcely to common and biologic drug treatments, have taken 3 tablets of PhycoZym ® for 3 months while continuing the previous drug treatment. They have been clinically evaluated after each one of the three months. Results: The response has been generally very positive, with a significant reduction and quasi-resolution of the pathology in 9 out of 10 cases. Conclusions: The product was very effective as a complementary treatment, and this preliminary report warrants the need and plausibility of larger double-blind studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]