ArticleBMC psychiatry2022
Efficacy of eicosapentaenoic acid in inflammatory depression: study protocol for a match-mismatch trial.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03143075 (Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have an Antidepressant Effect in Patients With Signs of Peripheral Inflammation?), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers.
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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.
Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have an Antidepressant Effect in Patients With Signs of Peripheral Inflammation?
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Amino Acid-Fatty Acid Profile as a Novel Predictive Method in the Assessment of Diagnosis and Treatment Efficacy of Anxiety-Related Disorders and Mood Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Kynurenine pathway metabolites are increased in inflammatory depression and decrease with omega-3 treatment.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Effect of Venlafaxine on Inflammatory Level in Patients with Depression.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Advancing precision psychiatry and targeted treatments: Insights from immunopsychiatry.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Review
- Prophylactic effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids monotherapy in preventing recurrent major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial.BioMedicine · 2025Article
- A review on the reciprocal interactions between neuroinflammatory processes and substance use and misuse, with a focus on alcohol misuse.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMost antidepressant treatment studies have included patients strictly based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Given the heterogeneity of MDD, this approach may have obscured inter-patient differences and hampered the development of novel and targeted treatment strategies. An alternative strategy is to use biomarkers to delineate endophenotypes of depression and test if these can be targeted via mechanism-based interventions. Several lines of evidence suggest that "inflammatory depression" is a clinically meaningful subtype of depression. Preliminary data indicate that omega-3 fatty acids, with their anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, may be efficacious in this subtype of depression, and this study aims to test this hypothesis.
methodWe conduct a match-mismatch-trial to test if add-on omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reduces depressive symptoms in patients with MDD and systemic low-grade inflammation. MDD patients on a stable antidepressant treatment are stratified at baseline on high sensitivity-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels to a high-inflammation group (hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L) or a low-inflammation group (hs-CRP < 3 mg/L). Both groups receive add-on EPA (2 g per day) for 8 weeks with three study visits, all including blood draws. Patients and raters are blind to inflammation status. Primary outcome measure is change in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score between baseline and week 8. We hypothesize that the inflammation group has a superior antidepressant response to EPA compared to the non-inflammation group. Secondary outcomes include a composite score of "inflammatory depressive symptoms", quality of life, anxiety, anhedonia, sleep disturbances, fatigue, cognitive performance and change in biomarkers relating to inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolomics and cellular aging. DISCUSSION: In this study we will, for the first time using a match-mismatch trial design, test if omega-3 is an efficacious treatment for inflammatory depression. If our study is successful, it could add to the field of precision psychiatry.
trial registrationThis trial was registered May 8, 2017 on clinicaltrials.gov under the reference number NCT03143075.
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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.