@article{ref1,
title="Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation and white matter changes in major depression",
journal="Journal of psychiatric research",
year="2016",
author="Chhetry, Binod Thapa and Hezghia, Adrienne and Miller, J. Mitchell and Lee, Seonjoo and Rubin-Falcone, Harry and Cooper, Thomas B. and Oquendo, Maria A. and Mann, J. John and Sublette, M. Elizabeth",
volume="75",
number="",
pages="65-74",
abstract="White matter abnormalities are implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). As omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are low in MDD and affect myelination, we hypothesized that PUFA supplementation may alleviate depression through improving white matter integrity. Acutely depressed MDD patients (n = 16) and healthy volunteers (HV, n = 12) had 25-direction diffusion tensor imaging before and after 6 weeks of fish oil supplementation. Plasma phospholipid omega-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and omega-6 PUFA arachidonic acid (AA) levels were determined before and after supplementation using high-throughput extraction and gas chromatography and expressed as a percentage of total phospholipids (PUFA%). Fractional anisotropy (FA) was computed using a least-squares-fit diffusion tensor with non-linear optimization. Regression analyses were performed with changes in PUFA levels or Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores as predictors, voxel-wise difference maps of FA as outcome, covariates age and sex, with family-wise correction for multiple comparisons. Increases in plasma phospholipid DHA% (but not EPA% or AA%) after fish oil predicted increases in FA in MDD but not HV, in a cluster including genu and body of the corpus callosum, and anterior corona radiata and cingulum (cluster-level p < 0.001, peak t-score = 8.10, p = 0.002). There was a trend for greater change in FA in MDD responders over nonresponders (t = -1.874, df = 13.56, p = 0.08). Decreased depression severity predicted increased FA in left corticospinal tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus (cluster-level p < 0.001, peak t-score = 5.04, p = 0.0001). Increased FA correlated with increased DHA% and decreased depression severity after fish oil supplementation suggests therapeutic effects of omega-3 PUFAs may be related to improvements in white matter integrity.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-3956",
doi="10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.12.007",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.12.007"
}