title: Fatty acid concentrations in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder compared to healthy controls.
abstract: Although fatty acid (FA)-supplementation studies are currently being implemented, in fact little is known about FA-profiles in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, the present study aimed at comparing FA-concentrations between PTSD-patients and healthy controls.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional study comparing a mixed-gender sample of 49 patients with PTSD due to civilian trauma to 46 healthy controls regarding erythrocyte FAs including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), arachidonic acid (AA), and nervonic acid (NA).
  
  
  
  DHA was found to be significantly lower in PTSD-patients compared to controls after adjusting for sociodemographic and dietary factors (p =0.043). Additionally, exploratory analyses showed lower vaccenic acid (p =0.035) and eicosatrienoic acid (p =0.006), but higher erucic acid (p =0.032) in PTSD-patients. The effect of erucic acid remained after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (p =0.047); with the additional adjustment for dietary factors none of these FAs were found to be significant.
  
  
  
  Statistical power for differences with small effect sizes was limited, and dietary assessment could be optimized.
  
  
  
  We found little evidence for a considerable role of FA-metabolism in PTSD. Apart from lower DHA after adjusting for confounders, no differences were observed in the hypothesized long-chained polyunsaturated FA-concentrations. Additionally, we found few alterations in the long-chained monounsaturated FAs, which may be explained by dietary factors. Nevertheless, the observed small effect sizes and limited extent of the alterations emphasize the importance of further investigating the assumed role of FA-metabolism and its underlying mechanisms in PTSD, before implementing further FA-supplementation studies.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors: Giel-Jan
authors: GJ
authors: de Vries
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors: Roel
authors: R
authors: Mocking
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors: Anja
authors: A
authors: Lok
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors: Johanna
authors: J
authors: Assies
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors: Aart
authors: A
authors: Schene
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group, Diemen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: M.Olff@amc.nl.
authors: Miranda
authors: M
authors: Olff
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
keywords: Monounsaturated fatty acids; Omega-3; Omega-6; PTSD; Trauma