What is the effectiveness of the use of polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 in the treatment of depression?

Abstract

This systematic review aims to identify the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 on depressive disorder. A bibliographical search was conducted in the databases SciELO, PubMed and ISIWEB. The keywords used were: “depression” and “omega-3 fatty acids”, “depression” and “omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid”, “depression” and “n-3 fatty acids”. A total of 19 studies were identified: four double-blind randomized studies, four cohorts, two cross-sectional lines and nine case–controls. Only five studies presented dropout of less than 30% and controlled for the most important confounding variables. Of the evaluated studies, 13 showed a significant positive association between omega-3 and depression, while six studies did not show a relationship between the referred variables. Therefore, future studies with similar methodology would aid in determining the precise effect of omega-3 on depressive disorders.

Keywords::

• depression
• depressive symptoms
• DHA
• diet
• EPA
• fish oil
• mood
• polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The grant for this review was from the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.