The therapeutic effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on symptom severity of psychosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: While omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have shown promise as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, the overall consensus about their efficacy across studies is still lacking and findings to date are inconclusive. No clinical trials or systematic reviews have yet examined if omega-3 PUFAs are associated with differential levels of efficacy at various stages of psychosis.

Method: A systematic bibliographic search of randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of omega-3 PUFAs as a monotherapy or adjunctive therapy versus a control group in adults and children at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis, experiencing a first-episode psychosis (FEP), or diagnosed with an established psychotic disorder was conducted. Participants' clinical symptoms were evaluated using total and subscale scores on validated psychometric scales.

Results: No beneficial effect of omega-3 PUFAs treatment was found in comparison with that of placebo (G = -0.26, 95% CI -0.55 to 0.03, p = 0.08). Treatment of omega-3 PUFAs did not prove any significant improvement in psychopathology in UHR (G = -0.09, 95% CI -0.45 to 0.27, p = 0.63), FEP (G = -1.20, 95% CI -5.63 to 3.22, p = 0.59), or schizophrenia patients (G = -0.17, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.03, p = 0.10).

Conclusion: These findings confirm previous evidence that disputes the original reported findings of the beneficial effect of omega-3 PUFAs in schizophrenia. Furthermore, accumulative evidence of the use of omega-3 as a preventive treatment option in UHR is not supported, suggesting that the need for future studies in this line of research should not be promoted.