ReviewBrain sciences2026
Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Adjunctive Therapy to Antipsychotic Treatment in Adults with Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Brain sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesSchizophrenia causes substantial disability and reduced life expectancy, while symptoms frequently persist despite antipsychotic treatment. Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) have been proposed as adjunctive therapy because of their anti-inflammatory and neurobiological properties. This systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of adjunctive n-3 PUFAs in adults with schizophrenia.
methodsThe review followed PRISMA 2020 and was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251178174). PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and ICTRP were searched without language or date restrictions. Randomized controlled trials of n-3 PUFAs added to antipsychotic therapy were included. Risk of bias was assessed using RoB 2. PANSS scores were pooled as mean differences (MDs) using an inverse-variance random-effects model with REML estimation; dichotomous outcomes were pooled as risk ratios (RRs) using an inverse-variance random-effects model with the DerSimonian-Laird estimator or a fixed-effect model with the Mantel-Haenszel method, with a 0.5 continuity correction for zero cells.
resultsOf 301 records, 10 randomized controlled trials met the eligibility criteria. Where sufficient comparable data were available, exploratory meta-analyses were conducted. Only one trial provided strict intention-to-treat final PANSS total data. A two-trial sensitivity meta-analysis (116 participants) showed no significant reduction in final PANSS total scores (MD -5.04, 95% CI -14.16 to 4.08; I
conclusionsCurrent evidence does not support routine adjunctive n-3 PUFAs for symptom reduction in adults with schizophrenia. The available data cannot identify an optimal EPA/DHA formulation, dose, or responsive clinical subgroup; larger biomarker-informed trials are needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.