A controlled study of plasma fatty acids in Indian patients with depressive episode.

AIM: To study the plasma omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid levels in patients with depressive episode and in matched healthy controls.

METHOD: Thirty patients with first episode depression and thirty healthy matched control subjects were recruited from a tertiary care hospital setting. We measured plasma omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid levels of the study and the control group.

RESULT: There were no significant differences in plasma omega 3 fatty acid levels between study group and control group. The plasma omega 6 fatty acid levels of study group were significantly less than that of control group.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study is an initial attempt to investigate the link between fatty acids and depression in a clinical setting in India. This comparative study with normal controls did not etiologically link these polyunsaturated fatty acids in this sample of depressive disorder.