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Does Fish Oil Prevent Depression in Pregnancy and Postpartum?

NCT00711971 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE2/PHASE3 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 126

Last updated 2017-04-28

Study results available
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Summary

This study is designed to test whether an alternative medicine treatment, fish oil, will prevent depressive symptoms in pregnant and postpartum women who have been found to be at risk for depression. Epidemiologists have observed that people who live in countries where people on average eat a diet high in fish have a lower risk of depression than people who live in populations that eat less fish. Postpartum depression is also less common in these countries. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are thought to be responsible for this beneficial effect of eating fish. The two major omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is an essential building block of the brain and nerve tissue. EPA may act to optimize the electrical signals between nerve cells and brain cells and may help the immune system to function well.

Some researchers have treated people who are already suffering from depression with fish oil. Some of these studies have shown a benefit for the fish oil treatment and others have not. These studies have tested EPA and DHA alone and in various combinations. Currently, it is not known whether EPA or DHA is more effective in preventing and treating depression. Some of the researchers involved in this study have learned how to identify mothers who are most at risk for developing depression during and after pregnancy. This study is designed to learn whether EPA-rich and DHA-rich fish oil supplements will prevent depressive symptoms in women who are at risk to develop depression.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

EPA-rich fish oil supplement

1060 mg EPA plus 274 mg DHA

DRUG

DHA-rich fish oil supplement

900 mg DHA plus 180 mg EPA

DRUG

placebo

control arm

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

    collaborator NIH

  • University of Michigan

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ellen Mozurkewich, MD, MS · University of Michigan

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-09-30
Primary Completion
2012-08-31
Completion
2013-01-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00711971 on ClinicalTrials.gov