title: What is the effectiveness of the use of polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 in the treatment of depression?
abstract: This systematic review aims to identify the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 on depressive disorder. A bibliographical search was conducted in the databases SciELO, PubMed and ISIWEB. The keywords used were: "depression" and "omega-3 fatty acids", "depression" and "omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid", "depression" and "n-3 fatty acids". A total of 19 studies were identified: four double-blind randomized studies, four cohorts, two cross-sectional lines and nine case-controls. Only five studies presented dropout of less than 30% and controlled for the most important confounding variables. Of the evaluated studies, 13 showed a significant positive association between omega-3 and depression, while six studies did not show a relationship between the referred variables. Therefore, future studies with similar methodology would aid in determining the precise effect of omega-3 on depressive disorders.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. danielemarano@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Daniele Marano
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rocha Araujo
authors.forename: Marina Machado
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Vilarim
authors.forename: Antonio E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3