A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid in the Treatment of Major Depression

Marangell, Lauren B.; Martinez, J. Michael; Zboyan, Holly A.; Kertz, Barbara; Kim, H. Florence Seung; Puryear, Lucy J.

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.5.996

Cited by 338 publications

(250 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…It was recently reported that the administration of pure EPA was beneficial for treatment of major depression (Nemets et al, 2002), but DHA was not effective (Marangell et al, 2003). Peet and Horrobin (2002) also reported the beneficial effects of pure EPA on major depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of docosahexaenoic acid-containing food administration on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — a placebo-controlled double-blind study

2004

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Objectives: To investigate whether docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation was able to ameliorate attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder(AD/HD) symptoms in AD/HD children. Design and subjects: A placebo-controlled double-blind study with 40 AD/HD (including eight AD/HD-suspected) children of 6-12 y of age who were mostly without medication. Subjects of a DHA group (n ¼ 20) took active foods containing fish oil (fermented soybean milk, bread rolls and steamed bread; 3.6 g DHA/week from these foods) for 2 months, whereas those of a control group (n ¼ 20) took indistinguishable control foods without fish oil. The following items were measured at the start and end of the study: (1) attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity (AD/HD-related symptoms according to DSM-IV criteria); (2) aggression assessed by both parents and teachers; (3) visual perception (finding symbols out of a table); (4) visual and auditory short-term memory; (5) development of visual-motor integration; (6) continuous performance; (7) impatience. Results: Changes in tests 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 over time did not significantly differ between the two groups. However, visual shortterm memory and errors of commission (continuous performance) significantly improved in the control group compared with the changes over time in the DHA group (P ¼ 0.02 and 0.001, respectively). Recalculation without AD/HD-suspected subjects (n ¼ 4 each group) showed similar P-values with regard to both measures. Conclusion: DHA supplementation did not improve AD/HD-related symptoms. Treatment of ADHD with fatty acids deserves further investigation, but careful attention should be paid as to which fatty acid(s) is used.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of docosahexaenoic acid-containing food administration on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — a placebo-controlled double-blind study

2004

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“…Several epidemiological studies suggest that a low dietary n-3 PUFA intake can increase human locomotor activity, aggression, and depression, as well as the prevalence of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases in which these symptoms may be prominent (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35). However, to date, most of these epidemiological correlations have not been tested or confirmed in controlled clinical trials (36,37).…”

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confidence: 99%

One generation of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deprivation increases depression and aggression test scores in rats

DeMar

Bell

et al. 2006

Journal of Lipid Research

225

157

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Male rat pups at weaning (21 days of age) were subjected to a diet deficient or adequate in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) for 15 weeks. Performance on tests of locomotor activity, depression, and aggression was measured in that order during the ensuing 3 weeks, after which brain lipid composition was determined. In the n-3 PUFA-deprived rats, compared with n-3 PUFA-adequate rats, docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) in brain phospholipid was reduced by 36% and docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6) was elevated by 90%, whereas brain phospholipid concentrations were unchanged. N-3 PUFA-deprived rats had a significantly increased (P 5 0.03) score on the Porsolt forcedswim test for depression, and increased blocking time (P 5 0.03) and blocking number (P 5 0.04) scores (uncorrected for multiple comparisons) on the isolation-induced residentintruder test for aggression. Large effect sizes (d . 0.8) were found on the depression score and on the blocking time score of the aggression test. Scores on the open-field test for locomotor activity did not differ significantly between groups, and had only small to medium effect sizes. This single-generational n-3 PUFA-deprived rat model, which demonstrated significant changes in brain lipid composition and in test scores for depression and aggression, may be useful for elucidating the contribution of disturbed brain PUFA metabolism to human depression, aggression, and bipolar disorder.-DeMar, J. C., Jr., K. Ma, J. M. Bell, M. Igarashi, D. Greenstein, and S. I. Rapoport. One generation of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deprivation increases depression and aggression test scores in rats.

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“…A second randomized control trial involved 36 depressed patients who were randomly assigned to receive 2 g d -1 DHA or placebo for 6 weeks. In this work, response rates were 27.8% in the DHA group and 23.5% in the placebo group, numbers that did not achieve statistical significance [63]. Some studies have also evaluated the use of a fatty acid supplement in addition to a conventional antidepressant regimen.…”

Section: Fish Oils and Fatty Acidsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Complementary and Alternative Medical Treatment for Depression

Bongiorno¹

2005

Biology of Depression

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As the mainstream medical world is confronted with the dramatic increases in the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, much is unknown regarding how to adequately consider these alternative treatments. There is little scientific justification to support the use of the vast array of alternative options, but these treatments are readily available to the public and CAM professionals. The public has been choosing to use dietary supplements, which has driven the increased utilization of CAM treatments in the past decade. This chapter discusses CAM treatments for major depression, but the primary focus is on dietary supplements. It is important to discuss how CAM clinicians ascertain that alternative treatment modalities are appropriate and then ascertain factors/symptoms in depressive illness that are most relevant when choosing from a myriad of treatment options available. It is important to mention that a substantial portion of the public has been utilizing dietary supplements without consulting CAM or non-CAM clinicians.

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A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid in the Treatment of Major Depression

Abstract: This trial failed to show a significant effect of DHA monotherapy in subjects with major depression.

Cited by 338 publications

References 8 publications

Effect of docosahexaenoic acid-containing food administration on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — a placebo-controlled double-blind study

Effect of docosahexaenoic acid-containing food administration on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — a placebo-controlled double-blind study

One generation of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deprivation increases depression and aggression test scores in rats

Complementary and Alternative Medical Treatment for Depression

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