ArticleBMC psychiatry2020
High-dose omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation might be more superior than low-dose for major depressive disorder in early therapy period: a network meta-analysis.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Pharmacological Interventions in Milder Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for depression in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Mental Disorders: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Role of dietary factors in the prevention and treatment for depression: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective studies.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Omega-3 Fatty Acids as the Monotherapy for Depression: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against inflammation through production of LOX and CYP450 lipid mediators: relevance for major depression and for human hippocampal neurogenesis.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Trial
- An Exploratory Analysis of Changes in Mental Wellbeing Following Curcumin and Fish Oil Supplementation in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Lipidomic analyses reveal the dysregulation of oxidized fatty acids (OxFAs) and acyl-carnitines (CARs) in major depressive disorder: a case-control study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Novel Insights into Dietary Bioactive Compounds and Major Depressive Disorders: Evidence from Animal Studies and Future Perspectives.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Review
- Prophylactic effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids monotherapy in preventing recurrent major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial.BioMedicine · 2025Article
- Supplementation with fish oil reduces αβ 42 burden and shifts αβ precursor protein processing toward non-amyloidogenic pathways in a rat model of hyperglycaemic Alzheimer's disease.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Article
- Review
- The Impact of High-Dose Fish Oil Supplementation on Mfsd2a, Aqp4, and Amyloid-β Expression in Retinal Blood Vessels of 5xFAD Alzheimer's Mouse Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Association of serum fatty acid pattern with depression in U.S. adults: analysis of NHANES 2011-2012.Lipids in health and disease · 2024Article
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Depression in the Elderly and Patients with Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the neurobiology of major depressive disorder and suicide risk.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Priority nutrients to address malnutrition and diet-related diseases in Australia and New Zealand.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Neuroimmunological effects of omega-3 fatty acids on migraine: a review.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe application of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (n-3 PUFAs) supplementation for major depressive disorder (MDD) has been widely discussed in recent years, but its efficacy and application are still controversial. This network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the efficacy of different dosages of n-3 PUFAs on MDD patients in the early period of treatment.
methodsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the efficacy of n-3 PUFA supplementation for patients with MDD were retrieved from the databases of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. RCTs comparing the efficacy of n-3 PUFA for adult (≥18 years) MDD patients without comorbidity were eligible for our study. The score of depressive symptoms in early therapy period of the treatment (≤9 weeks) was extracted. Standardized mean deviations (SMDs) of all the sores from the eligible RCTs were synthesized in a pairwise meta-analysis in frequentist framework and a random-effects network meta-analysis in Bayesian framework for the overall and subgroups (high- and low-dose) efficacy of n-3 PUFAs.
resultsA total of 910 MDD patients in 10 trials with 3 adjuvant therapy strategies (high-dose n-3 PUFAs, low-dose n-3 PUFAs and placebo) were included. Results of pairwise meta-analysis showed that n-3 PUFAs were superior to placebo (SMD: 1.243 ± 0.596; 95% CI: 0.060 ~ 2.414). Results of the network meta-analysis showed that both the high (SMD: 0.908 ± 0.331; 95% CI: 0.262 ~ 1.581) and the low-dose (SMD: 0.601 ± 0.286; 95% CI: 0.034 ~ 1.18) n-3 PUFAs were superior to placebo, and the efficacy of high-dose n-3 PUFAs is superior to that of low-dose.
conclusionsHigh-dose n-3 PUFAs supplementation might be more superior than low-dose in the early therapy period for MDD. More head-to-head clinical trials need to be carried out to provide more direct comparison and enhance the evidence of the efficacy of n-3PUFAs for MDD.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.