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. 2008 Oct;70(8):856-62.
doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318188a01e. Epub 2008 Oct 8.

Acute coronary syndrome patients with depression have low blood cell membrane omega-3 fatty acid levels

Alpesh A Amin  1 , Rishi A Menon, Kimberly J Reid, William S Harris, John A Spertus
Affiliations

Acute coronary syndrome patients with depression have low blood cell membrane omega-3 fatty acid levels

Alpesh A Amin et al. Psychosom Med. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the extent to which levels of membrane eicosapentaenoic (EPA)+docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) (the omega-3 index) were associated with depression in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Depression is associated with worse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in patients with ACS. Reduced levels of blood cell membrane omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs), an emerging risk factor for both CV disease and depression, may help to explain the link between depression and adverse CV outcomes.

Methods: We measured membrane FA composition in 759 patients with confirmed ACS. The analysis included not only EPA and DHA but also the n-6 FAs linoleic and arachidonic acids (LA and AA). Depressive symptoms were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ). Multivariable linear regression was used to adjust for demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results: There was a significant inverse relationship between the n-3 index and depressive symptoms (PHQ) in the fully adjusted model (p = .034). For every 4.54% point rise in the n-3 index, there was a 1-point decline in depressive symptoms. In contrast to the n-3 FAs, membrane levels of the n-6 FAs LA and AA were not different between depressed and nondepressed ACS patients.

Conclusion: We found an inverse relationship between the n-3 index and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients with ACS. Therefore, this study supports the hypothesis that reduced n-3 FA tissue levels are a common and potentially modifiable link between depression and adverse CV outcomes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Adjusted Beta-coefficients of Variables in the Final Multivariable Model Predicting Depressive Symptoms
*n-3 (omega-3); BMI (Body Mass Index)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Unadjusted and Adjusted Association between EPA+DHA*and Depressive Symptoms
*n-3 (omega-3) Demographics (age, gender, race, education level) History (hypertension, diabetes, Body Mass Index, smoking status)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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