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How can we realize the promise of personalized antidepressant medicines?

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 9, pages 638–646 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Personalized medication that is based on pharmacogenetic data has long been expected to improve the efficacy of treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, including depression. However, the complexity of the regulation of gene transcription and its interactions with environmental factors means that straightforward translation of individual genetic information into tailored treatment is unlikely. Nevertheless, when data from genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, neuroimaging and neuroendocrinology are used in combination, they could lead to the development of effective personalized antidepressant treatment that is based on both genotypes and biomarkers. This process will require many further steps and collaboration between basic and clinical neuroscience.

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Figure 1: An example of how genetic variation can predict antidepressant responses.
Figure 2: A potential neuroendocrine biomarker for screening antidepressant drug candidates.

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Acknowledgements

The author's research on personalized medicine is supported by the Max Planck Excellence Foundation.

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  1. Florian Holsboer is at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 2–10, 80804 Munich, Germany. holsboer@mpipsykl.mpg.de,

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Holsboer, F. How can we realize the promise of personalized antidepressant medicines?. Nat Rev Neurosci 9, 638–646 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2453

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