Polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for schizophrenia.

Study answer

What this study found

Across trials, omega-3/omega-6 fatty acid supplementation showed no consistent, robust benefit for schizophrenia. In small short-term analyses, EPA/E-EPA vs placebo suggested: reduced need for neuroleptics in a unmedicated subsample (RR 0.73; 95% CI 0.54–1.00; n=30) and possible >25% PANSS improvement in unmedicated participants (RR 0.54; 95% CI 0.30–0.96; NNT 3; n=30). There were no differences in withdrawal due to adverse events (RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.50–1.48; n=595). Data on omega-6 (GLA) are limited and show no clear benefit for movement disorders. DHA vs EPA showed no clear difference in…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group trials in adults with DSM-IV schizophrenia or related disorders; settings included inpatient and outpatient care; participants ranged from early to chronic illness; total across eight studies: 517 participants.

Intervention

Oral polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements (EPA or ethyl-EPA; sometimes DHA) given as capsules for 6–16 weeks; regimens included 1 g/day, 2 g/day, or 4 g/day; used as an adjunct to standard antipsychotic therapy, or as sole treatment in unmedicated participants in Peet 2001b; one small trial used omega-6…

Key limitation

Small, short trials with heterogeneous populations and regimens; inconsistent outcome reporting and incomplete data; potential risk of bias and sponsor influence in several trials; lack of long-term and patient-centered outcomes; overall evidence is not sufficient to support routine use.

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Original abstract