Efficacy of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids in the treatment of depression
Hallahan B, Ryan T, Hibbeln JR, Murray IT, Glynn S, Ramsden CE, SanGiovanni JP, Davis JM
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 136 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- Intramural NIH HHS
- Grants
- National Institutes of Health (Z01 AA000115)
Based on 2 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2016-04-22 · Br J Psychiatry · vol. 209 · issue 3 · pp. 192–201
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Cited
- 189 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 18.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 86 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Fatty Acid Research and Health · Tryptophan and brain disorders · Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- Docosahexaenoic acid, Depression (economics), Placebo, Eicosapentaenoic acid, Internal medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Clinical trial, Meta-analysis, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Fatty acid, Polyunsaturated fatty acid, Alternative medicine, Biology
- MeSH
- humans, fatty acids, omega-3, docosahexaenoic acids, eicosapentaenoic acid, major depressive disorder
8 authors
From IE, US
- Brian P. Hallahan · correspondingOllscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway; University of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Timothy J. RyanUniversity of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Joseph R. HibbelnNational Institutes of Health; University of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Ivan T. MurrayUniversity Hospital Galway; University of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Shauna GlynnUniversity of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Christopher E. RamsdenNational Institutes of Health; University of Illinois Chicago; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Abstract
Background
Trials evaluating efficacy of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) in major depressive disorder report discrepant findings.
Aims
To establish the reasons underlying inconsistent findings among randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of omega-3 HUFAs for depression and to assess implications for further trials.
Method
A systematic bibliographic search of double-blind RCTs was conducted between January 1980 and July 2014 and an exploratory hypothesis-testing meta-analysis performed in 35 RCTs including 6665 participants receiving omega-3 HUFAs and 4373 participants receiving placebo.
Results
Among participants with diagnosed depression, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-predominant formulations (>50% EPA) demonstrated clinical benefits compared with placebo (Hedge's G = 0.61, P50% DHA) did not. EPA failed to prevent depressive symptoms among populations not diagnosed for depression.
Conclusions
Further RCTs should be conducted on study populations with diagnosed or clinically significant depression of adequate duration using EPA-predominant omega-3 HUFA formulations.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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