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Published online before print November 8, 2007, 10.1097/PSY.0b013e31815aaa42
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Psychosomatic Medicine 69:932-934 (2007)
© 2007 American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

High {omega}-6 and Low {omega}-3 Fatty Acids are Associated With Depressive Symptoms and Neuroticism

Sarah M. Conklin, PhD, Stephen B. Manuck, PhD, Jeffrey K. Yao, PhD, Janine D. Flory, PhD, Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD and Matthew F. Muldoon, MD

From the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Postdoctoral Training Program (S.M.C.), Department of Psychology, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychology (S.B.M.), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (J.K.Y.), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychology (J.D.F.), Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, New York; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (J.R.H.), Bethesda, Maryland; and Center for Clinical Pharmacology (M.F.M.), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Sarah M. Conklin, PhD, Department of Psychology, Allegheny College, 520 North Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335-3902. E-mail: Sarah.Conklin{at}allegheny.edu

Objective: To examine the concentrations of {omega}-3 and {omega}-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in serum obtained from nonpatient community volunteers not selected for hypercholesterolemia. Previously we reported that the relative concentrations of {omega}-3 and {omega}-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in serum covary with depressive symptomatology and neuroticism in hypercholesterolemic adults.

Methods: A total of 116 adults without current Axis I psychopathology completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the NEO Personality Inventory—Revised (NEO-PI-R). Fasting serum phospholipid eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosahexaenoic (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA) were determined (% of total pool).

Results: Higher AA and AA:EPA ratio, adjusted for age, gender, and race, were associated with greater depressive symptomatology (BDI score of ≥10). Lower EPA, and higher AA, AA:EPA ratio and AA:DHA ratio were associated with greater NEO-PI-R Neuroticism. The six Neuroticism subscales were each associated with two or more fatty acid measurements.

Conclusions: In conjunction with other reports, these findings suggest that the {omega}-3 and {omega}-6 fatty acids are related to negative affect at both the symptom and trait levels.

Key Words: neuroticism • depression • negative affect • eicosapentaenoic • docosahexaenoic

Abbreviations: EPA = eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA = docosahexaenoic acid; AA = arachidonic acid; BDI = Beck Depression Inventory.






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