Pharmacogenomics and the Management of Mood Disorders—A Review

Abstract

Due to the chronic relapsing nature of mental disorders and increased life expectancy, the societal burden of these non-communicable diseases will increase even further. Treatments for mental disorders, such as depression, are available, but their effect is limited due to patients’ (genetic) heterogeneity, low treatment compliance and frequent side effects. In general, only one-third of the patients respond to treatment. Today, medication selection in psychiatry relies on a trial-and-error approach based mainly on physicians’ experience. Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing can help in this process by determining the person-specific genetic factors that may predict clinical response and side effects associated with genetic variants that impact drug-metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters or drug targets. PGxis a discipline that investigates genetic factors that affect the absorption, metabolism, and transport of drugs, thereby affecting therapy outcome. These genetic factors can, among other things, lead to differences in the activity of enzymes that metabolize drugs. Studies in depressed patients show that genotyping of drug-metabolizing enzymes can increase the effectiveness of treatment, which could benefit millions of patients worldwide. This review highlights these studies, gives recommendations and provides future perspectives on how to proceed with PGx testing. Finally, it is recommended to consider genotyping for CYP2D6 and CYP2C19, when there is an indication (side effects or inefficacy).