Addition of omega-3 Fatty Acid to maintenance medication treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE:
Studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish oil consumption have low rates of depressive disorder. The authors studied a specific omega-3 fatty acid, the ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA), as an adjunct to treatment for depressive episodes occurring in patients with recurrent unipolar [always down] depressive disorder who were receiving maintenance antidepressant therapy.

METHOD:
Twenty patients with a current diagnosis of major depressive disorder participated in a 4-week, parallel-group, double-blind addition of either placebo or E-EPA to ongoing antidepressant therapy. Seventeen of the patients were women, and three were men.

RESULTS:
Highly significant benefits of the addition of the omega-3 fatty acid compared with placebo were found by week 3 of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS:
It is not possible to distinguish whether E-EPA augments antidepressant action in the manner of lithium or has independent antidepressant properties of its own.

Source:Source:Am J Psychiatry 2002 Mar;159(3):477-9 Nemets B, et al.

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