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Effects of Hormone Therapy on the Association between Erythrocyte Levels of N‐3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Depression in Postmenopausal Women
Author(s) -
Jin Youri,
Park Yongsoon
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.267.3
Subject(s) - polyunsaturated fatty acid , eicosapentaenoic acid , docosapentaenoic acid , docosahexaenoic acid , medicine , endocrinology , depression (economics) , arachidonic acid , estrogen , fatty acid , chemistry , biochemistry , economics , macroeconomics , enzyme
Epidemiologic and clinical studies have suggested that hormone therapy (HT) and n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), exert antidepressant effects through regulation of the serotonergic pathway. Our previous study showed that n‐3 PUFA supplementation with estrogen injection was synergistically effective than either treatment alone for preventing depression, through serotonergic signaling in ovariectomized rats. However, there has been no study examining the interactions between n‐3 PUFAs and estrogen on depression in human. Thus, the present study was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis that erythrocyte levels of n‐3 PUFAs and depression were negatively associated in postmenopausal women, particularly those undergoing HT. A total of 214 postmenopausal women were divided into groups defined by depression and HT status. Depression was defined as a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score of at least 14, and the types and durations of HT were obtained from medical records. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Soonchunhyang University Hospital (SCHBC_IRB_2012‐178) and conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. Erythrocyte levels of EPA, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), DHA, omega‐3 index (sum of EPA+DHA), total n‐3 PUFA, and arachidonic acid were significantly higher in women undergoing HT than in those not receiving HT. There were significant negative correlations between depression and erythrocyte levels of alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA), DPA, DHA, and total n‐3 PUFA in women undergoing HT. Multivariate‐adjusted logistic regression analysis also showed that depression was negatively associated with the erythrocyte levels of ALA, DPA, and DHA only in women undergoing HT. The levels of blood leukotriene B 4 and prostaglandin E 2 were significantly lower in women undergoing HT than in those not receiving HT. In conclusion, negative associations between erythrocyte levels of n‐3 PUFAs and depression were found in Korean postmenopausal women undergoing HT but not in those not receiving HT, suggesting a synergistic effect of HT and n‐3 PUFAs on depression. Support or Funding Information This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean government FigAssociation between Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score and erythrocyte level of alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n3) docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5n3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n3), and total n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in postmenopausal women with or without hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Open circles () represent data for women with HRT and solid circles () represent data for women without HRT. A significant inverse correlation between BDI score and erythrocyte level of ALA (a; r = −0.310, P = 0.001), DPA(b; r = −0.272, P = 0.004), DHA (c; r = −0.209, P = 0.029) and total n‐3 PUFA (d; r = −0.234, P = 0.014) were only found in women with HRT.