Abstract
Following reports of epidemiological studies in Greenland in the early 1970s, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids （PUFAs） were investigated with high hopes for their preventive effects on atherosclerotic disease and they have now come into clinical use. Subsequently, research interest in n-3 PUFAs expanded into the field of psychiatry. A case-control study conducted in the UK by Fehily et al. in 1981 was likely the first to note the association between n-3 PUFAs and depression, based on findings of reduced blood levels of n-3 PUFAs in patients with endogenous depression compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Then, in 1998 Hibbeln reported an ecological study conducted in 9 countries that found a negative association between fish consumption and the prevalence of depression. This prompted a marked increase in the number of epidemiological studies and clinical trials of n-3 PUFAs. Furthermore, in 2002 Hibbeln reported an ecological study conducted in 22 countries that showed a similar association between fish consumption and the prevalence of postnatal depression, again prompting the acceleration of research—this time in the field of perinatal depression. In this review, I introduce studies on 1） the association between n-3 PUFAs and/or fish consumption and the risk of prenatal and/or postnatal depression, 2） the association between blood levels of n-3 PUFAs and the risk of prenatal and/or postnatal depression, and 3） randomized controlled trials of n-3 PUFAs for prenatal and/or postnatal depression.
