Fatty acid concentrations in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder compared to healthy controls

- Little is known about fatty acid (FA)-profiles in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Results hinted at lower DHA and alterations in MUFAs in PTSD-patients compared to controls.
- Overall, alterations had small effect sizes and were observed in only a limited number of FAs.
- This emphasizes the importance of further investigating the role of FA-metabolism.
- Especially given the FA-supplementation studies that are currently ongoing in PTSD.

BackgroundAlthough fatty acid (FA)-supplementation studies are currently being implemented, in fact little is known about FA-profiles in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, the present study aimed at comparing FA-concentrations between PTSD-patients and healthy controls.MethodsA cross-sectional study comparing a mixed-gender sample of 49 patients with PTSD due to civilian trauma to 46 healthy controls regarding erythrocyte FAs including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), arachidonic acid (AA), and nervonic acid (NA).ResultsDHA was found to be significantly lower in PTSD-patients compared to controls after adjusting for sociodemographic and dietary factors (p =0.043). Additionally, exploratory analyses showed lower vaccenic acid (p =0.035) and eicosatrienoic acid (p =0.006), but higher erucic acid (p =0.032) in PTSD-patients. The effect of erucic acid remained after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (p =0.047); with the additional adjustment for dietary factors none of these FAs were found to be significant.LimitationsStatistical power for differences with small effect sizes was limited, and dietary assessment could be optimized.ConclusionsWe found little evidence for a considerable role of FA-metabolism in PTSD. Apart from lower DHA after adjusting for confounders, no differences were observed in the hypothesized long-chained polyunsaturated FA-concentrations. Additionally, we found few alterations in the long-chained monounsaturated FAs, which may be explained by dietary factors. Nevertheless, the observed small effect sizes and limited extent of the alterations emphasize the importance of further investigating the assumed role of FA-metabolism and its underlying mechanisms in PTSD, before implementing further FA-supplementation studies.