Abstract
We previously found that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake prevents aggression enhancement at times of mental stress. In the present study we investigated changes in aggression under nonstressful conditions. Forty-six students of two universities took either DHA-rich fish oil capsules containing 1.5 g DHA (DHA group: 13 males and 9 females) or control oil capsules containing 97% soybean oil plus 3% of another fish oil (control group: 11 males and 13 females) for 3 mon in a double-blind fashion. At the start and end of the study they took an aggression-estimating test (P-F Study) without a stressor component. DHA (5.9 to 8.5%, P<0.001) and eicosapentaenoic acid (0.7 to 1.5%, P<0.001) increased in red blood cell phospholipids in the DHA group, while linoleic acid increased slightly (8.3 to 9.1%, P<0.002) in the soybean oil control group. In the control group, measured aggression levels decreased from 34.8 to 29.4% (P<0.005), whereas they remained stable in the DHA group (33.5 to 33.8%). The intergroup differences (−5.4 vs. 0.3%) were marginally significant (P≤0.05). Aggression levels were stable in the DHA group whether there was stressor (as previously shown) or not. This effect of DHA appears to be interesting, considering the reported association between a low intake of n-3 fatty acids and depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- DHA:
-
docosahexaenoic acid
- EPA:
-
eicosapentaenoic acid
- RBC:
-
red blood cells
References
Bang, H.O., Dyerberg, J., and Sinclair, H.M. (1980) The Composition of the Eskimo Food in North Western Greenland, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 33, 2657–2661.
Kromhout, D., Bosschieter, E.B., and Coulander, C.L. (1985) The Inverse Relation Between Fish Consumption and 20-Year Mortality from Coronary Heart Disease, N. Engl. J. Med. 312, 1205–1209.
Burr, M.L., Fehily, A.M., Gilbert, J.F., Rogers, S., Holliday, R.M., Sweetman, P.M., Elwood, P.C., and Deadman, N.M. (1989) Effects of Changes in Fat, Fish and Fibre Intakes on Death and Myocardial Reinfarction: Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART), Lancet 2, 757–761.
de Lorgeril, M., Renaud, S., Mamelle, N., Salen, P., Martin, J.-L., Monjaud, I., Guidollet, J., Touboul, P., and Delaye, J. (1994) Mediterranean α-Linolenic Acid Rich Diet in Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease, Lancet 343, 1454–1459.
Christensen, J.H., Gustenhoff, P., Korup, E., Aarøe, J., Toft, E., Møller, J., Rasmussen, K., Dyerberg, J., and Schmidt, E.B. (1996) Effect of Fish Oil on Heart Rate Variability in Survivors of Myocardial Infarction: A Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial, Br. Med. J. 312, 677–678
van Ravenswaaij-Arts, C.M.A., Kollée, L.A.A., Hopman, J.C.W., Stoelinga, G.B.A., and van Gei**, H.P. (1993) Heart Rate Variability, Ann. Intern. Med. 118, 436–447.
Sellmaver, A., Witzgall, H., Lorenz, R.L., and Weber, P.C. (1995) Effect of Dietary Fish Oil on Ventricular Premature Complexes, Am. J. Cardiol. 76, 974–977.
Hallaq, H., Sellmayer, A., Smith, T.W., and Leaf, A. (1990) Protective Effect of Eicosapentaenoic Acid on Ouabain Toxicity in Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 7834–7838.
Kinoshita, I., Itoh, K., Nishida-Nakai, M., Hirota, H., Otsuji, S., and Shibata, N. (1994) Antiarrhythmic Effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid During Myocardial Infarction Enhanced Cardiac (Ca2+−Mg2+)-ATPase Activity, Jpn. Circ. J. 58, 903–912.
Williams, R.B. (1994) Neurobiology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychosom. Med. 56, 308–315.
Hibbeln, J., and Salem, N., Jr. (1995) Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Depression: When Cholesterol Does Not Satisfy, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 62, 1–9.
Hamazaki, T., Sawazaki, S., Itomura, M., Asaoka, E., Nagao, Y., Nishimura, N., Yazawa, K., Kuwamori, T., and Kobayashi, M. (1996) The Effects of Docosahexaenoic Acid on Aggression in Young Adults. A Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Study, J. Clin. Invest. 97, 1129–1133.
Hamazaki, T., Sawazaki, S., Asaoka, E., Itomura, M., Mizushima, Y., Yazawa, K., Kuwamori, Y., and Kobayashi, M. (1996) Docosahexaenoic Acid-Rich Fish Oil Does Not Affect Serum Lipid Concentration of Normolipidemic Young Adults, J. Nutr. 126, 2784–2789.
Rosenzweig, S. (1978) Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study: Basic Manual, pp. 1–60, Rana House, St. Louis.
Hayashi, K., Sumita, K., Ichitani, Y., Nakata, Y., Hata, K., Tsuda, H., Nishio, H., and Nishikawa, M. (1987) P-F Study Kaisetsu (in Japanese), pp. 11–85, Sankyobo, Kyoto.
Hori, R., and Hayano, J. (1993) Hostility Scale, in Type A Kodo Pattern (in Japanese), (Monou, H., Hayano, J., Hosaka, T., and Kimura, K., eds.), pp. 187–196, Seiwa Shoten Publishers, Tokyo.
Cook, W.W., and Medley, D.M. (1954) Proposed Hostility and Pharisaic-Virtue Scales for the MMPI, J. Appl. Psychol. 38, 414–418.
Kobayashi, S., Hamazaki, T., Sawazaki, S., and Nakamura, H. (1992) Reduction in the ADP Release from Shear-Stressed Red Blood Cells by Fish Oil Administration, Thromb. Res. 65, 353–356.
Folch, J., Lees, M., and Sloane-Stanley, G.H. (1957) A Simple Method for the Isolation and Purification of Total Lipids from Animal Tissues, J. Biol. Chem. 226, 497–509.
Nakamura, N., Hamazaki, T., Yamazaki, K., Taki, H., Kobayashi, M., Yazawa, K., and Ibuki, F. (1993) Intravenous Infusion of Tridocosahexaenoyl Glycerol Emulsion into Rabbits. Effects on Leukotriene B4/5 Production and Fatty Acid Composition of Plasma and Leukocytes, J. Clin. Invest. 92, 1253–1261.
Adams, P.B., Lawson, S., Sanigorski, A., and Sinclair, A.J. (1996) Arachidonic Acid to Eicosapentaenoic Acid Ratio in Blood Correlates Positively with Clinical Symptoms of Depression, Lipids 31, S157-S161.
Hibbeln, J.R., Umhau, J.C., George, D.T., and Salem, N., Jr. (1997) Do Plasma Polyunsaturates Predict Hostility and Depression? World Rev. Nutr. Dietet. 82, 175–186.
Bond, A., and Lader, M. (1986) A Method to Elicit Aggressive Feelings and Behavior via Provocation, Biol. Psychiat. 22, 69–79.
Baldwin, J.J., and Randolph, D.L. (1982) The Effects of a Provocation on Aggression for Three Types of Alcohol Users, J. Clin. Psychol. 38, 439–444.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Hamazaki, T., Sawazaki, S., Nagao, Y. et al. Docosahexaenoic acid does not affect aggression of normal volunteers under nonstressful conditions. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Lipids 33, 663–667 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-998-0254-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-998-0254-2