Table 1.

Relationships Between Plasma Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels and Clinical/Demographic Characteristics.

Correlation of PUFA Levels (% of Total Phospholipid FA) with Characteristic
Characteristic	Mean (SD)		Phospholipid PUFA		Pearson’s r		p
Age yrs	41.2 (12.4)		DHA%		0.37		0.05
			AA%		0.51		0.004
			EPA%		0.20		0.30
BMI	26.7 (5.0)		DHA%		0.03		0.87
			AA%		0.06		0.77
			EPA%		0.21		0.28
HDRS score	21.2 (5.0)		DHA%		− 0.05		0.80
			AA%		0.10		0.61
			EPA%		− 0.14		0.47
BDI score	32.1 (9.3)		DHA%		− 0.17		0.38
			AA%		0.04		0.85
			EPA%		− 0.14		0.48
Phospholipid PUFA Levels (% of Total Phospholipid FA) by Characteristic Status
	Mean PUFA Level
	N(%)	PUFA	MDD	BD	t	df	p
MDD (vs. BD)	23 (79)	DHA%	3.7 (1.1)	2.4 (1.0)	2.53	27	0.02
		AA%	11.0 (1.8)	10.0 (2.6)	1.12	27	0.27
		EPA%	0.6 (0.2)	0.6 (0.2)	0.11	26	0.91
			Male	Female
Male	14 (48)	DHA%	3.8 (1.2)	3.1 (1.0)	1.75	27	0.09
		AA%	10.1 (2.0)	11.4 (1.9)	−1.74	27	0.09
		EPA%	0.6 (0.2)	0.6 (0.2)	0.87	26	0.39
			Smoker	Non-smoker
Smoker	11 (38)	DHA%	3.0 (1.2)	3.6 (1.2)	1.43	27	0.16
		AA%	10.3 (2.3)	11.1 (1.8)	1.03	27	0.31
		EPA%	0.6 (0.1)	0.6 (0.3)	0.94	26	0.35

Bolded values significant at p<0.05. Data expressed in mean (SD) or N(%) as appropriate. Individual phospholipid fatty acid values shown as a percentage of total phospholipid fatty acids. Two-tailed Student’s t-tests compare mean PUFA levels for each categorical variable, in columns labelled “+/− characteristic.” Abbreviations: PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; BMI, body mass index; HDRS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (17-item); BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; FA, fatty acid; MDD, Major Depressive Disorder; BD, Bipolar Disorder; DHA, docosahexaenoate; AA, arachidonate.