long chain n3 fatty acids improve depression syndrome in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: type 2 diabetes mellitus (t2dm) is commonly associated with depressive symptoms, which af- fect prognosis and quality of life. we investigated the antidepressant effects of n-3 fatty acids (n-3fas) mono- therapy (without conventional antidepressants) for t2dm patients with mild to moderate depressive symp- toms. methods: a 10-wk, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group (1:1 ratio) randomized trial of n-3fas (2700 mg/day epa: dha ratio=2) versus placebo in 88 iranian diabetic patients with mild to moderate de- pression based on beck depression inventory ii (bdi-ii-persian) was conducted. this study started from july 2014 to january 2015 in tehran university of medical sciences, tehran, iran. the primary event was de- fined as worsened, non-changed, or inconsiderably improved depression (<5 unit decrease in bdi-ii- persian depression scores after treatment) (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: nct02261545). results: randomly, 44 t2dm patients were treated with n-3fas supplements and 44 cases received placebo (three patients discontinued). n-3fas could significantly protect patients against the aforesaid event and exhibit satisfactory prevention (number needed to treat with 95% confidence interval: 2.52, 1.71-4.74). no serious ad- verse reactions were reported. conclusion: n-3fas supplementation had significant antidepressant effects in t2dm patients with mild to moderate depressive symptoms, not confounded by metabolic factors and disease duration.