“Omega-3 fatty acids are well known to provide a wealth of health benefits. One of these fatty acids, EPA, has begun to shine in its role of mood regulation. In particular, studies with EPA have found that it has benefits in depression and mental disorders. In 2000, depressive disorders ranked as the fourth highest among all diseases and the second highest in people from 15-44 years of age.

A new study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry compared the effects of EPA in depression to those of the antidepressant drug fluoxetine (Jazayeri et al. 2008;42(3):192-198). 48 patients who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder were given either 1000 mg EPA or 20 mg fluoxetine or both for 8 weeks. At the end of the study, it appeared that EPA was at least as effective in controlling symptoms of depression as the drug, and both together were especially effective. There was a response rate of 50% to fluoxetine, 56% to EPA and 81% to the combination. Due to ethical reasons, this double-blind study could not use a placebo control group. However, since the effectiveness of the combination treatment was greater than either alone, it is unlikely that there was a significant placebo effect.

This study supports many others that have found benefits for EPA supplementation in depression. There are several theories for this. Depression has been proposed to be caused by an excessive production of cytokines (molecular signals in the inflammation response). In particular, the cytokine IFNy can lower levels of serotonin by activating enzymes that metabolize tryptophan, serotonin’s precursor, and decrease its availability. EPA has been found to decrease the production of IFNy. Other potential factors in depression are the complex interactions between the serotonin system and the metabolism of arachidonic acid, another fatty acid. EPA has strong effects on processes that involve arachidonic acid. Therefore, EPA supplementation appears to be a promising way to deal with mental disorders such as depression.”

Advanced Orthomolecular Research – Canada