Inhibitory activities of omega-3 Fatty acids and traditional african remedies on keloid fibroblasts.

Keloids develop when scar tissue responds to skin trauma with proliferative fibrous growths that extend beyond the boundaries of the original wound and progress for several months or years. Keloids most frequently occur in individuals of indigenous sub-Saharan African origin. The etiology for keloids is still unknown and treatment can be problematic as patients respond differently to various treatment modalities.

Genome scans provide evidence for keloid susceptibility loci on chromosomes 2q23 and 7p11.

Keloids are proliferative fibrous growths that result from an excessive tissue response to skin trauma. They often occur sporadically, but in some families a genetic predisposition to keloids has been observed. Here we studied two families with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern of keloids.