Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on depressive symptoms, anxiety and emotional state in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND Our aim was to assess whether an early introduced n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) supplementation affects depression symptoms, anxiety and emotional state in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and no history of mental disorders. METHODS Fifty two patients with AMI were enrolled into the study and randomized to the study group (group P; n=26; standard therapy+n-3 PUFA 1 g daily) or the control group (group C; n=26; standard therapy). The following psychological tests were used at the baseline (3rd day of AMI) and after one month (30±1 days): Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in a specific situation (STAI-S) and as a general trait (STAI-T), Emotional State Questionnaire (ESQ). RESULTS The baseline characteristics, pharmacotherapy and BDI, STAI-S/T and ESQ were similar between both groups. The mean test scores assessed for all patients (group P and C) during the one-month observation were significantly lower for BDI (p=0.04), STAI-T (p=0.03), STAI-S (p=0.01) and harm/loss emotions (p=0.005). After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, coronary artery disease severity, ejection fraction, serum troponin level and the baseline tests results, n-3 PUFA intervention revealed additional significant decrease in BDI (p=0.046), STAI-S (p=0.03) and harm/loss emotions (p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS Our study provides novel and preliminary observations--n-3 PUFA supplementation reveals additional decreasing effects on depressive and anxiety symptoms in early post-MI patients.