Eicosapentaenoic acid treatment in schizophrenia associated with symptom remission, normalisation of blood fatty acids, reduced neuronal membrane phospholipid turnover and structural brain changes

The administration of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to a drug-naive patient with schizophrenia, untreated with conventional antip sychotic medication, led to a dramatic and sustained clinical improvement i n both positive and negative symptoms. This was accompanied by a correction in erythrocyte membranes of abnormalities in both n-3 and n-6 highly unsat urated fatty acids and with reduced neuronal membrane phospholipid turnover , as evidenced by serial 31-phosphorus cerebral magnetic resonance spectros copy. Using recently developed techniques of image segmentation, subvoxel r egistration and quantitation, analysis of serial high-resolution 3D cerebra l MRI scans showed that, in the year before EPA treatment, cerebral atrophy was taking place and that this atrophy was reversed by six months of EPA t reatment. These results demonstrate that EPA can reverse both the phospholi pid abnormalities previously described in schizophrenia and cerebral atroph y. They provide strong further evidence in support of the membrane phosphol ipid model of schizophrenia.