Genome-wide association studies in pharmacogenomics of antidepressants

Pharmacogenomics. 2015;16(5):555-66. doi: 10.2217/pgs.15.5.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders worldwide. Doctors must prescribe antidepressants based on educated guesses due to the fact that it is unmanageable to predict the effectiveness of any particular antidepressant in an individual patient. With the recent advent of scientific research, the genome-wide association study (GWAS) is extensively employed to analyze hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms by high-throughput genotyping technologies. In addition to the candidate-gene approach, the GWAS approach has recently been utilized to investigate the determinants of antidepressant response to therapy. In this study, we reviewed GWAS studies, their limitations and future directions with respect to the pharmacogenomics of antidepressants in MDD.

Keywords: antidepressants; genome-wide association study; major depressive disorder; pharmacogenomics; single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antidepressive Agents / adverse effects
  • Antidepressive Agents / pharmacology
  • Antidepressive Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / drug therapy*
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / genetics*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genome-Wide Association Study*
  • Humans
  • Pharmacogenetics*

Substances

  • Antidepressive Agents