The Correlation Between Plasma Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels and Mental Health in Adults

by | Jan 16, 2025 | 2024, Brain Health, Depression, Fats and Oils - General

Written by Harold Oster, MD. Results suggest that there is an inverse association between plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid levels and depression and anxiety in adults.

man with hands to head, depressed, stressedDepression is a chronic, recurrent condition that affects over 15% of people during their lifetimes1. An unhealthy diet and inflammation may be factors in the pathogenesis of depression1,2. Anxiety, which causes symptoms of worry, apprehension, and nervousness, is the most common mental health disorder. An unhealthy diet may also play a role in its pathophysiology3. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are beneficial in numerous health conditions due to their effects on lipids, coagulation, and inflammation4. As part of a healthy diet, they may benefit mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety5.

Yongxuan Li et al. studied the relationship between PUFAs and depression and anxiety in middle-aged and older adults. Additionally, they evaluated the possible association of PUFA levels with brain MRI white matter changes noted in some patients with anxiety and depression6. The authors gathered information from UK Biobank, a biomedical database containing health information from over 500,000 individuals over forty7. Between 2006 and 2010, participants had a baseline assessment for demographic and anthropometric factors, and blood was tested for numerous possible covariables. PUFA levels were drawn, and participants were assigned to four quartiles based on the total PUFA levels. Levels of linoleic acid (LA)1, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) {an omega-3 fatty acid}, and total omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids were also measured. Follow-up questionnaires and blood tests were performed by UK Biobank every two to three years until the end of the study in December 2022. During the follow-up period, participants were evaluated for depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)1 and anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7)8. Brain MRI scans were performed on 8,780 participants.

The authors noted the following:

  • Based on exclusion criteria, data from 102,252 participants was used for the study.
  • During follow-up, 3,411 (3.34%) participants were diagnosed with depression, and 3,326 (3.25%) were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
  • After adjustment for covariables, participants in the quartile with the highest levels of total PUFAs had a lower risk of developing depression than those in the lowest quartile. (HR of 0.80)
  • The quartiles with the highest levels of omega-3 PUFAs, DHA, omega-6 PUFAs, and LA each had a lower risk of developing depression than the corresponding quartiles with the lowest levels. (HRs of 0.86, 0.80, 0.79, and 0.77, respectively)
  • Similar inverse correlations were found between the PUFAs tested and the risk of developing anxiety.
  • In the participants who had brain MRI scans, those in the highest quartile of PUFA levels were less likely to have abnormal white matter changes than those in the lowest quartile.

Results suggest that there is an inverse association between plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid levels and depression and anxiety in adults. There is also an inverse association between PUFA levels and brain MRI findings seen in some patients with depression or anxiety. The study’s limitations include measuring PUFA levels only at baseline and possible residual confounding.

Source: Li, Yongxuan, Li Hua, Qingqing Ran, Jiawei Gu, Yujia Bao, Jinli Sun, Lan Wu et al. “Plasma Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels and Mental Health in Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults.” Nutrients 16, no. 23 (2024): 4065.

© 2024 by the authors.Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
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Posted January 16, 2025.

Harold Oster, MD graduated from medical school in Miami, Florida in 1992 and moved to Minnesota in 2004. After more than 25 years of practicing Internal Medicine, he recently retired. Dr. Oster is especially interested in nutrition, weight management, and disease prevention. Visit his website at haroldoster.com.

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