Important benefit
Commenting on the study, Roger McIntyre, MD, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology, University of Toronto, and head of the mood disorders psychopharmacology unit, said that the benefit of omega-3 “on impulsivity and mood symptoms is especially important, as these are some of the most debilitating aspects of BPD and lead to service utilization, such as ER, primary care, and specialty care.”
In addition, “impulsivity often presages suicidality,” he noted.
Dr. McIntyre, who is also chair and executive director of the Brain and Cognition Discovery Foundation in Toronto and was not involved with the study, called the effect size “quite reasonable.”
“The mechanistic story is very strong around anti-inflammatory effect, which particularly implied mood and cognition. In other words, inflammation is highly associated with mood and cognitive difficulties,” he said.
However, Dr. McIntyre also pointed to several significant challenges, including “quality assurance on the purchase of the product of fish oil, as it is not sufficiently regulated.” It is also unclear which individuals are more likely to benefit from it.
For example, major depressive disorder data have shown that “fish oils are not as effective as we hoped but are especially effective in people with baseline elevation of inflammatory markers,” Dr. McIntyre said.
“In other words, is there a way to identify a biomarkers/biosignature or phenomenology that’s more likely to identify a subgroup of people with BPD who might benefit benefiting from omega-3?” he asked.
Dr. Mocking and the other investigators reported no relevant financial relationships. Dr. McIntyre has received research grant support from CIHR/GACD/Chinese National Natural Research Foundation and speaker/consultation fees from Lundbeck, Janssen, Purdue, Pfizer, Otsuka, Allergan, Takeda, Neurocrine, Sunovion, Eisai, Minerva, Intra-Cellular, and AbbVie. Dr. McIntyre is also CEO of AltMed.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.