Omega-3 fatty acids and depression: epidemiological and experimental evidence
type: CreativeWork
description: The changes of omega-6/omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the food supply of Western societies occurred over the last 150 years is thought to promote the pathogenesis of many inflammatory-related diseases, including depressive disorders. Among the biological properties of omega-3 PUFA, their anti-inflammatory effects and their role on the structural changing of the brain should be taken into account to better understand the possible pathway through which they can be effective both in preventing or treating the depressive status. The use of omega-3 supplement in depressed patients reached notable improvements during last years. Meta-analysis of 11 and 8 trials conducted respectively on patients with a DSM-defined diagnosis of major depressive disorder and patients with depressive symptomatology but no diagnosis of major depressive disorder demonstrated significant clinical benefit of omega-3 PUFA treatment compared to placebo (standardized mean difference in clinical measure of depression severity was 0.56 [95% CI: 0.20, 0.92] and 0.22 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.43], respectively; pooled analysis resulted in 0.38 [95% CI: 0.18, 0.59] standardized mean difference). Use of mainly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) within the preparation, rather than docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), influenced final clinical efficacy. Significant clinical efficacy had the use of omega-3 PUFA as adjuvant rather than mono-therapy. No relation between efficacy and study size, baseline depression severity, trial duration, age of patients, and study quality was found. Omega-3 PUFA resulted effective in RCTs on patients with bipolar disorder, whereas no evidence was found for those exploring their efficacy on depressive symptoms in young populations, perinatal depression, primary disease other than depression (i.e., patients with schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, cardiovascular disease) and healthy individuals. The systematic review of epidemiological studies exploring the possible relation of fish or o…
abstract: The changes of omega-6/omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the food supply of Western societies occurred over the last 150 years is thought to promote the pathogenesis of many inflammatory-related diseases, including depressive disorders. Among the biological properties of omega-3 PUFA, their anti-inflammatory effects and their role on the structural changing of the brain should be taken into account to better understand the possible pathway through which they can be effective both in preventing or treating the depressive status. The use of omega-3 supplement in depressed patients reached notable improvements during last years. Meta-analysis of 11 and 8 trials conducted respectively on patients with a DSM-defined diagnosis of major depressive disorder and patients with depressive symptomatology but no diagnosis of major depressive disorder demonstrated significant clinical benefit of omega-3 PUFA treatment compared to placebo (standardized mean difference in clinical measure of depression severity was 0.56 [95% CI: 0.20, 0.92] and 0.22 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.43], respectively; pooled analysis resulted in 0.38 [95% CI: 0.18, 0.59] standardized mean difference). Use of mainly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) within the preparation, rather than docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), influenced final clinical efficacy. Significant clinical efficacy had the use of omega-3 PUFA as adjuvant rather than mono-therapy. No relation between efficacy and study size, baseline depression severity, trial duration, age of patients, and study quality was found. Omega-3 PUFA resulted effective in RCTs on patients with bipolar disorder, whereas no evidence was found for those exploring their efficacy on depressive symptoms in young populations, perinatal depression, primary disease other than depression (i.e., patients with schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, cardiovascular disease) and healthy individuals. The systematic review of epidemiological studies exploring the possible relation of fish or o…
author: GROSSO, GIUSEPPE
language: eng
keywords: Omega-3 PUFA, depression, randomized controlled trials, epidemiology, meta-analysis
date published: 2014-12-09
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:35:10Z
provider: Università degli Studi di Catania
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Università degli studi di Catania

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/586538