Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective: This study was aimed to explore the impact of fish oil (n-3 PUFAs) on cognitive performance in Elderly Major Depressive Disorder.Methods: This is an 8-week randomized controlled trial that randomly assigned 73 elderly patients with major depression to a 1.2g/day n-3PUFA fish oil group (containing 720mgEPA and 480mgDHA) and a placebo group. The intervention was based on daily treatment with duloxetine 60 mg. Hamilton Depression scale (HAMD), connection Test A (TMT-A), Digital symbol conversion Test (DSST) and digit Span Test (DST) were used to evaluate the patients condition and cognitive function for 8 weeks at T0 (before intervention), T1 (2 weekends), T2 (4 weekends), T3 (6 weekends) and T4 (8 weekends). The blood samples of the patients were collected at T0 and T4, and the contents of plasma EPA and DHA were analyzed by meteorological chromatograph. Results: After 8 weeks, the levels of plasma EPA and DHA in fish oil group were significantly higher than those in placebo group（P＜0.05）. The scores of HAMD and DST in T3 and T4 fish oil group were significantly lower than those in placebo group（P＜0.05）. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in TMT-A and DSST test（P＞0.05）.Conclusion: In this 8 weeks Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial, we observed n-3 PUFAs can improve depressive symptoms and cognitive function in the elderly with Major Depressive Disorder. For the rigor of the conclusion, further studies

n-3 PUFAs；Fish oil；The Elderly Major Depressive Disorder；Cognitive function.