Background: Vitiligo is one of the autoimmune skin diseases that destroy the melanocytes of the skin. Moreover, its prevalence varies in different countries and regions.Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of Nigella sativa and fish oil on vitiligo lesions of the patients referred to a dermatology clinic.Materials and Methods: This randomized, double blind clinical trial was conducted in the dermatology clinic of the Imam Khomeini Hospital Ahvaz, Iran, from June to December 2011. We used a randomized simple sampling. From 96 patients with vitiligo, 52 eligible patients were selected and allocated to two groups with equal size. The study medications were applied twice a day by patients on their lesions. After six months, the improvement rate of lesions was assessed by the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI). Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 15; P value<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: After six months, a mean score of VASI decreased from 4.98 to 3.75 in patients applying topical Nigella sativa and from 4.98 to 4.62 in those using topical fish oil. Most of the percent improvement observed in upper extremities, trunk, head, and neck of those who received Nigella sativa and head, neck, trunk, and feet of those who received fish oil. No adverse effect was reported by the patients.Conclusions: Nigella sativa oil and fish oil were effective in reduction the size of patient’s lesions; however, Nigella sativa was more effective in comparison to the fish oil. Therefore, using Nigella sativa with the major drugs in the treatment of vitiligo is recommended.

Six hundred day old unsexed broiler chicks were used in a 35-day trial to compare the effects of soybean oil, palm oil and fish oil supplementation on the performance of broilers in terms of feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion. The chicks were randomly distributed following a completely randomized design in four groups having three replications per treatment. Each treatment had 150 birds with 50 birds per replicate. Four diets were formulated using locally available ingredients as diet without oil, diet containing 3.0% soybean oil, 3.0% palm oil and 3.0% fish oil. Results indicated that supplementation of different types of oil did not affect (P>0.05) feed intake of broilers up to 2nd week except increased (P<0.05) at 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks. Live weight gain of broilers did not differ (P>0.05) among groups up to 3rd week of age except at 4th week. The highest live weight gain at 4th week was found in 3.0% fish oil supplemented group. The palm oil group showed the least feed conversion value that differed only from fish oil group. Feed cost per broiler receiving fish oil was higher than that of without oil, palm oil and soybean oil groups. Total cost per broiler also differed (P<0.01) among the groups. Net profit expressed in US$ per kg live weight of broilers did not differ (P>0.05) between treatments. Maximum net profit was obtained from birds fed diet containing palm oil and minimum from broilers fed diet containing soybean oil. It was concluded that supplementation of fish oil at 3.0% level gave slightly higher live weight gain and feed conversion than those of the same level of soybean and palm oil. However, net profit as well as price per kg live broiler was comparatively higher in palm oil supplementation than in soybean oil and fish oil.