• Tommaso Accinni, Matteo Panfili, Lorenzo Tarsitani, Massimo Biondi, Massimo Pasquini, and Annalisa Maraone.
• Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Dell'Universitá 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2022 Jan 1; 2022: 38012353801235.

BackgroundInsufficient effectiveness and a difficult tolerability profile of antidepressant drugs for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) have been reported, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been posited as reliable therapeutic alternatives. The present study investigated the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs as monotherapy for MDD.MethodsTwo well-trained reviewers independently looked at the most significant randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from the PubMed database regarding PUFAs' employment in MDD compared to placebo; "major depressive disorder" and "omega-3 fatty acids," or "omega-6 fatty acids," or "polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)," or "n - 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids," or "eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)," or "docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)" were used as the medical subject keywords.ResultsOf the initial 96 potential RCTs based on titles and abstracts, 82 studies did not meet the inclusion criteria and were excluded. Six studies were excluded from the remaining 14 after full text revision. Eight RCTs met all the inclusion/exclusion criteria without reporting clear evidence of PUFAs' effectiveness in the treatment of MDD.ConclusionAt present, there is no opportunity to recommend the use of omega-3 PUFAs monotherapy for the treatment of MDD, although their supplementation may be useful in some specific populations.Copyright © 2022 Tommaso Accinni et al.

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