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Are omega-3 fatty acids antidepressants or just mood-improving agents? The effect depends upon diagnosis, supplement preparation, and severity of depression

Molecular Psychiatry volume 17, pages 1161–1163 (2012)Cite this article

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The use of omega-3 fatty acids for depression treatment is of considerable interest, in part due to the inadequate efficacy and tolerability of standard antidepressant medications. Although several meta-analyses have reported positive outcomes for omega-3 fatty acid treatment of depression,1, 2, 3, 4, 5 the meta-analysis by Bloch and Hannestad suggests no significant benefit.6

However, caution must be undertaken when interpreting these findings. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to have greater effects for trials examining Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-defined major depressive disorder (MDD) than for trials examining depressive symptoms in symptomatic individuals without a formal psychiatric diagnosis.3 This meta-analysis, however, includes studies and subjects that were not rigorously diagnosed as having strictly DSM-defined MDD.6 In fact, according to their third inclusion criterion, trials examining the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids in subjects who may not have received a formal diagnosis were also included. It is therefore not accurate to describe this paper as a meta-analysis of MDD studies (for example, from the first line of Abstract to the last paragraph of Discussion).6

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    P-Y Lin

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    D Mischoulon & M P Freeman

  3. Department of Psychiatry, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan

    Y Matsuoka

  4. Section on Nutritional Neurosciences, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    J Hibbeln

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel

    R H Belmaker

  6. Graduate Institute of Neural and Cognitive Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    K-P Su

  7. Department of Psychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    K-P Su

Authors
  1. P-Y Lin
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  2. D Mischoulon
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  3. M P Freeman
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  4. Y Matsuoka
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  5. J Hibbeln
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  6. R H Belmaker
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  7. K-P Su
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K-P Su.

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Competing interests

Dr David Mischoulon has received research support for other clinical trials from Amarin (Laxdale), Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cederroth, Lichtwer Pharma GmbH, Nordic Naturals, Ganeden, Swiss Medica, and Fisher-Wallace; he has received consulting and writing honoraria from Pamlab; he has received speaking honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nordic Naturals, Pfizer, Pamlab, and Virbac; he has received royalty income from Back Bay Scientific for PMS Escape, and from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins for the book, ‘Natural Medications for Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives’ (Editors: David Mischoulon and Jerrold F Rosenbaum). Dr Marlene P Freeman has received research support for clinical trials from Lilly, Forrest and Glaxo SmithKline; she has received consulting honoraria for the Advisory Board from Bristol Myers Squibb; she consulted to PamLab on behalf of Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr Yutaka Matsuoka has received research support from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan, Intramural Research Grant for Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders of NCNP and lecture fees from Suntory Wellness Ltd, Eli Lilly Japan and Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Ltd. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

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PY Lin and KP Su wrote the first draft of the letter. All authors contributed to and approved the final version of the letter.

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Lin, PY., Mischoulon, D., Freeman, M. et al. Are omega-3 fatty acids antidepressants or just mood-improving agents? The effect depends upon diagnosis, supplement preparation, and severity of depression. Mol Psychiatry 17, 1161–1163 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2012.111

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