RESUMO
Background: Major depressive disorder [MDD] is a common brain disorder that affects approximately 10% of the world population and leads to significant disability. The current study was aimed to evaluate the impact of Omega3 PUFAs administration on the clinical outcome of patients with depression
Patients and Methods: This prospective, randomized controlled study included a total of Forty-two patients who diagnosed with depression according to a strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, attending at the outpatient clinics of the Department of Psychiatry, Al-Zahraa University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. Approval of the Ethical Research Committee of Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University [registration number 61], and a written informed consent from all the subjects were obtained. This study was conducted between February 2015 till August 2016. patients were randomly assigned to either; Group1; [intervention n=21]; received the prescribed antidepressant + omega3 [2100mg] for 8 weeks, or Group 2; [control, n=21]; received the prescribed antidepressant only for 8 weeks. Baseline evaluation and 8-week assessment included; patient demographicdata collection, history taking and clinical assessment of DSM-5 criteria and HAM-D score. Laboratory assessment included; complete blood picture [CBC], prothrombin time [PT], activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT]. Patients were followed up regularly every 2 weeks for 8 weeks for the occurrence of side effects due to antidepressants/ Omega 3 and compliance with medications
Results: The 2 groups were comparable at baseline. The test group showed a significant improvement in the HAMD score from baseline values and versus the control. There was no significant difference in the reported side effects between the 2 groups
Conclusion: Omega -3 PUFAs administration at a dose of 2100 [EPA1350 mg/, DHA 600 mg/ 150 mg other omega 3 FA] for 8 weeks, improved depression symptoms and was well tolerated