Abstract

Background: Due to the possible effect of omega-3 fatty acids on reducing depressive symptoms, in this study, we investigated these effects in combination with other antidepressants.

Methods: The study was a double-blind clinical trial on 100 patients with a major depressive disorder who were divided into four groups of 25 each and treated with 50 mg daily sertraline plus placebo, 50 mg daily sertraline plus two grams Omega 3 daily, 75 mg daily venlafaxine plus placebo, and 75 mg daily venlafaxine plus 2 g Omega 3 daily for 6 weeks.

Results: The mean Hamilton depression rating score of sertraline and venlafaxine plus omega-3 after treatment was 4.42 and 4.23 respectively versus sertraline and venlafaxine plus placebo 14.4 and 14.2 respectively (P value=0.0001).

Conclusion: Omega-3 enhanced the clinical function of sertraline and venlafaxine to reduce the severity of depression. Adding omega-3 to either sertraline or venlafaxine does not have a comparative advantage over each other in terms of the improvement of severity of depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Major depression disorder, omega 3, sertraline, venlafaxine, adjunctive therapy, placebo-controlled study.

Graphical Abstract