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Tuesday's Bipolar Abstract: Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Major Depressive Disorder During Pregnancy: Results From a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Kuan-Pin Su, Shih-Yi Huang, Tsan-Hung Chiu, Kuo-Cherh Huang, Chieh-Liang Huang, Hui-Chih Chang, and Carmine M. Pariante From the Department of Psychiatry and Mind-Body Interface Research Centre (Drs. Su and C-L Huang) and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Dr. Chiu), China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences (Drs. Su and S-Y Huang) and the School of Health Care Administration (Drs. K-C Huang and Chang), Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom (Drs. Su and Pariante and Ms. Chang)
Objective: Perinatal
depression is common, and treatment remains challenging. Depression has
been reported to be associated with the abnormality of omega-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). A profound decrease of omega-3
PUFAs in the mother during pregnancy is associated with the higher
demand of fetal development and might precipitate the occurrence of
depression. In this study, we examined the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA
monotherapy for the treatment of depression during pregnancy.
Results: Thirty-six subjects
were randomly assigned to either omega-3 PUFAs or placebo, and 33 among
them were evaluated in more than 2 visits. A total of 24 subjects
completed the study. As compared to the placebo group, subjects in the
omega-3 group had significantly lower HAM-D scores at weeks 6 (p = .001)
and 8 (p = .019), a significantly higher response rate (62% vs. 27%, p =
.03), and a higher remission rate, although the latter did not reach
statistical significance (38% vs. 18%, p = .28). At the study end point,
subjects in the omega-3 group also had significantly lower depressive
symptom ratings on the EPDS and BDI. The omega-3 PUFAs were well
tolerated and there were no adverse effects on the subjects and
newborns. Source: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry March 18, 2008: Epub ahead of print
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