omega-3 fatty acids and psychiatric illness

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) profiles associate with risk for mood disorders. This poses the hypothesis of metabolic differences between patients and unaffected healthy controls that relate to the primary illness or are secondary to medication use or dietary intake. However, dietary manipulation or supplementation studies show equivocal results improving mental health outcomes. This study investigates dietary patterns and metabolic profiles relevant to PUFA metabolism, in bipolar I individuals compared to non-psychiatric controls...

We have used a translational Convergent Functional Genomics (CFG) approach to discover genes involved in alcoholism, by gene-level integration of genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from a German alcohol dependence cohort with other genetic and gene expression data, from human and animal model studies, similar to our previous work in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A panel of all the nominally significant P-value SNPs in the top candidate genes discovered by CFG  (n=135 genes, 713 SNPs) was used to generate a genetic  risk prediction score (GRPS), which showed a trend towards significance (P=0...

Metabolic dysfunction occurring after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important risk factor for the development of psychiatric illness. In the present study, we utilized an omega-3 diet during early life as a metabolic preconditioning to alter the course of TBI during adulthood. TBI animals under omega-3 deficiency were more prone to alterations in energy homeostasis (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; AMPK phosphorylation and cytochrome C oxidase II; COII levels) and mitochondrial biogenesis (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha; PGC-1α and mitochondrial transcription factor A; TFAM)...

OBJECTIVE: Positive affect can improve survival, but the mechanisms responsible for this association are unknown. We sought to evaluate the association between positive affect and mortality in patients with stable coronary heart disease and to determine biological and behavioral factors that might explain this association. METHOD: The Heart and Soul Study is a prospective cohort study of 1,018 outpatients with stable coronary heart disease. Participants were recruited between September 11, 2000, and December 20, 2002, and were followed up to June 2011...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence rate of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) within Western cultures is between 5% and 12%, and is the most common psychiatric illness among school-aged children, with an estimated 50% of these children retaining ADHD symptoms for the rest of their lives. Children with ADHD have lower blood levels of long-chain Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (LC PUFAs) compared with children without ADHD, and following PUFA supplementation, have shown improvements in ADHD-related symptoms...

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, cerebral concussion) is a risk factor for the development of psychiatric illness such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We sought to evaluate how omega-3 fatty acids during brain maturation can influence challenges incurred during adulthood (transitioning to unhealthy diet and mTBI) and predispose the brain to a PTSD-like pathobiology. Rats exposed to diets enriched or deficient in omega-3 fatty acids (n-3) during their brain maturation period, were transitioned to a western diet (WD) when becoming adult and then subjected to mTBI...

New discoveries in the field of neurophysiology and neuropharmacology have revealed the role of (n-3) fatty acids in controlling inflammation and protecting neuron cells from oxidative damage, preserving their function. It has also been thought that their psychoactive properties could be beneficial in certain psychiatric illnesses. This article discusses the newest discoveries of the affected activities by these fats in the cerebral cortex and the efforts that have been made to put them in practice in clinical trials in humans...

Nutraceuticals can be defined as food components or active principles present in aliments which have positive effects for health and quality of life, including preventing or treating disorders. Herbal and "natural" food supplements are increasingly used to treat different psychiatric disorders, often as "self-prescribed" therapies. With factors such as chronic illness, poor health, emotional distress, and quality of life influencing the desire for complementary medicine, patients with comorbid medical and psychiatric problems seem likely to turn to this approach...

PURPOSE: This article will summarize the current evidence on the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on prevention and treatment of mental illness. BACKGROUND: Omega-3 fatty acids are involved in many physiologic processes. Since they cannot be made de novo in the body, they are considered essential nutrients. As the Western diet evolved, dietary intake of fatty acids has shifted to increased omega-6 fatty acids and decreased omega-3 fatty acids intake. These changes have been correlated with numerous differences in prevalence and course of mental illnesses...

A growing body of evidence suggests that omega (ω)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are clinically useful in patients with psychiatric disorders. In the present review, we summarize the findings of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials that have focused on the potential therapeutic utility of ω-3 PUFAs in patients with mental illnesses. We searched the PubMed database for placebo-controlled clinical trials using the keywords "PUFAs", "omega-3", "eicosapentaenoic acid", and "docosahexaenoic acid" in combination with the following terms: "anxiety disorders", "mood disorders", "autism", "attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder" (ADHD), "personality disorders", and "schizophrenia"...

The role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in psychiatric illness is a topic of public health importance. This report describes development and biomarker validation of a 21-item, self-report food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) intended for use in psychiatric research to assess intake of α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3 [ALA]), docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3 [DHA]), and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3 [EPA]). In a cross-sectional study conducted from September 2006 to September 2008, sixty-one ethnically diverse adult participants with (n=34) and without (n=27) major depressive disorder completed this n-3 PUFA FFQ and provided a plasma sample...

Oxidative stress has been reported to be elevated in mental illness. Preliminary evidence suggests this phenomenon can be assessed non-invasively by determining breath levels of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) oxidation product ethane. This study compares alkane levels in chronic, medicated, patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with those in healthy controls. Both ethane and butane levels were significantly increased in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, although elevated butane levels were likely due to increased ambient gas concentrations...

Omega-6 (n-6) and omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are precursors of potent lipid mediators, termed eicosanoids, which play an important role in the regulation of inflammation. Eicosanoids derived from n-6 PUFAs (e.g., arachidonic acid) have proinflammatory and immunoactive functions, whereas eicosanoids derived from n-3 PUFAs [e.g., eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] have anti-inflammatory properties, traditionally attributed to their ability to inhibit the formation of n-6 PUFA-derived eicosanoids...

OBJECTIVES: This clinical trial evaluated whether supplementation with flax oil, containing the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (alpha-LNA), safely reduced symptom severity in youth with bipolar disorder. METHODS: Children and adolescents aged 6-17 years with symptomatic bipolar I or bipolar II disorder (n = 51), manic, hypomanic, mixed, or depressed, were randomized to either flax oil capsules containing 550 mg alpha-LNA per 1 gram or an olive oil placebo adjunctively or as monotherapy...

CONTEXT: The use of antipsychotic medication for the prevention of psychotic disorders is controversial. Long-chain omega-3 (omega-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may be beneficial in a range of psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia. Given that omega-3 PUFAs are generally beneficial to health and without clinically relevant adverse effects, their preventive use in psychosis merits investigation. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether omega-3 PUFAs reduce the rate of progression to first-episode psychotic disorder in adolescents and young adults aged 13 to 25 years with subthreshold psychosis...

There is some evidence that links the increase of mental disorders' prevalence with a deterioration of Western countries' nutritional habits and it is found that the use of herbal and "natural" food supplements to treat different disorders is increasing. With factors such as chronic illness, poor health, emotional distress, and quality of life influencing the desire for complementary medicine, patients with comorbid medical and psychiatric problems seem likely to turn to this approach. We reviewed the most commonly used herbal and dietary supplements for which a certain efficacy on psychiatric symptoms or disorders has been claimed, checking current Pubmed-indexed literature (the most important being St...

Anxiety disorders are a common group of psychiatric illnesses which have significant personal, family and societal costs. Current treatments have limited efficacy in many patients highlighting a need for new therapeutic approaches to be explored. Anxiety disorders exhibit marked comorbity with mood disorders suggesting the existence of mechanistic similarities. Such a notion is supported by observations that some conventional pharmacotherapies are both effective antidepressants and anxiolytics. As such, given that omega-3 PUFA supplementation may be effective in the treatment of major depressive disorder it is reasonable to propose that they may also possess anxiolytic properties...

Current intakes of very long chain omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are low in most individuals living in Western countries. A good natural source of these fatty acids is seafood, especially oily fish. Fish oil capsules contain these fatty acids too. Very long chain omega-3 fatty acids are readily incorporated from capsules into transport, functional, and storage pools. This incorporation is dose-dependent and follows a kinetic pattern that is characteristic for each pool...

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress (PD) and depressive symptoms are commonly observed during menopausal transition. Studies suggest that omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids may help alleviate depression. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to compare enriched ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA) supplementation with placebo for the treatment of PD and depressive symptoms in middle-aged women. DESIGN: Women with moderate-to-severe PD (n = 120) were randomly assigned to receive 1...

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the main omega-3 fatty acid, is concentrated and avidly retained in membrane phospholipids of the nervous system. DHA is involved in brain and retina function, aging, and neurological and psychiatric/behavioral illnesses. Neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1), the first-identified stereoselective bioactive product of DHA, exerts neuroprotection in models of experimental stroke by down-regulating brain ischemia reperfusion (BIR)-induced leukocyte infiltration, proinflammatory signaling, and infarct size...