title: Reduction in perseverative errors with adjunctive ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid in patients with schizophrenia: Preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with schizophrenia have significant cognitive deficits, generally resistant to conventional treatment. This preliminary study examined the effects of ethyl-eicosapentanoate (EPA) on an executive function in early course patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with schizophrenia were given, after an informed consent, 2 g of an EPA daily for 24 weeks, in an open-label study. The Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) was administered at baseline, weeks 4, 12 and 24.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 27 patients, with a mean duration of illness of 4.2 years, were all receiving atypical antipsychotics; treatment remained unchanged for the study. Perseverative errors - the key measure derived from WCST - were significantly reduced from the baseline mean of 28.2 to 18.4 errors at week 24. Positive symptoms also improved significantly. There were no correlations between EPA levels and any clinical or other neuropsychological measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that an EPA has procognitive effects for patients with schizophrenia, but controlled trials are required.
authors.affiliation: University of Toledo School of Medicine, OH, USA. reddyr@upmc.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fleet-Michaliszyn
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Condray
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reddy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; C035276:eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid