Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine in mood disorders

Abstract

Pharmacogenomics and the search for personalized medicine focus on the attainment of individualized pharmacotherapies that cover genetic variation and target groups of patients that present neurodevelopmental aspects of symptom profi les and biomarkers underlying the pathophysiology of mood disorders. The identifi cation of genetic biomarkers facilitates choice of treatment, prediction of response, and prognosis of outcome over a wide spectrum of symptoms associated with affective states thereby optimizing clinical practice procedures. Several strategies, under development and refi nement, show the propensity for derivation of essential elements in the etiopathogenesis of disorder affecting drug effi cacy, drug metabolism, and drug adverse effects, e.g., with regard to SSRIs; these include the following: Transporter gene expression and genes encoding receptor systems, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis factors, neurotrophic factors, and infl ammatory factors affecting neuroimmune function. Nevertheless, procedural considerations of pharmacogenetics presume the parallel investment of policies and regulations to withstand eventual attempts at misuse thereby ensuring patient integrity.