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Adolescents with or at ultra-high risk for bipolar disorder exhibit erythrocyte docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid deficits: a candidate prodromal risk biomarker
As low levels of the long-chain omega-3 (LCn-3) fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are associated with mood disorders, the purpose of this 2016 study was to assess the utility of LCn-3 fatty acid biostatus as a prodromal risk biomarker by checking the LCn-3 fatty acid biostatus of a diverse adolescent population with varying risks of developing mania. The erythrocyte fatty acid composition was determined in the following adolescents: healthy (n = 28, HC); asymptomatic with a biological parent with bipolar I disorder (n = 30; ‘high risk’, HR); with a biological parent with bipolar I disorder and major depressive disorder or depressive disorder not otherwise specified (n = 36; ‘ultra-high risk’, UHR); and first-episode bipolar manic patients (n = 35, BP). Compared with HCs, EPA and DHA levels in erythrocytes were significantly lower in BP (-24%, P ≤ 0.0001) and UHR (-19%, P = 0.0006) groups, and even the HR group tended to have lower concentrations (-11%, P = 0.06). Moreover, a larger proportion of HR (77%, P = 0.02), UHR (80%, P = 0.005) and BP (97%, P = 0.001) subjects exhibited EPA + DHA levels of ≤4.0%, compared with the HC group. EPA + DHA was also inversely correlated with manic and depressive symptom severity among the whole sample. Other findings included significantly greater arachidonic acid (AA)/EPA + DHA ratios in BP and UHR groups. McNamara et al. (2016) concluded that since low EPA and DHA concentrations were seen in the early stages of mania and were linked with increased risk of developing bipolar disorder, low erythrocyte EPA + DHA biostatus looks promising and deserves further investigation as a prodromal risk biomarker. [NPID: psychiatric disorders, omega-3 fatty acids, EPA, DHA, mood disorders, bipolar, major depressive disorder, MDD]
Year: 2016
