Higher dietary intake of long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in women
Received 14 September 2008; accepted 27 December 2008. published online 06 February 2009.
Abstract
Objective
Experimental and observational data suggest that a higher dietary intake of long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated acids may lead to a decreased risk of depressive disorders. We assessed multivariable-adjusted associations of fish consumption and dietary intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with depressive symptoms in a population-based sample of 3317 African-American and Caucasian men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.
Methods
Diet was assessed in year 7 (1992–1993) and depressive symptoms were measured in years 10 (1995–1996), 15 (2000–2001), and 20 (2005–2006) by the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Depressive symptoms were defined as a Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale score ≥16 or self-reported use of antidepressant medication.
Results
In the entire cohort, the highest quintiles of intakes of EPA (≥0.03% energy), DHA (≥0.05% energy), and EPA + DHA (≥0.08% energy) were associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms at year 10 (P for trends = 0.16, 0.10, and 0.03, respectively). The observed inverse associations were more pronounced in women. For the total number of occasions with depressive symptoms, the multivariable adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) in women were 0.75 (0.55–1.01) for fish intake, 0.66 (0.50–0.89) for EPA, 0.66 (0.49–0.89) for DHA, and 0.71 (0.52–0.95) for EPA + DHA when comparing the highest with the lowest quintiles. Analyses of continuous Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale scores revealed inverse associations with fourth-root–transformed ω-3 variables in women.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that dietary intakes of fish and long-chain ω-3 fatty acids may be inversely associated with chronic depressive symptoms in women.
aDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
bDepartments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
cDepartment of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
This research was funded by contracts N01-HC-48047 through 48050 and N01-HC-95095 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
ABSTRACT