Abstract
Clinical Benefit of Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry. Pharmacogenetics deals with genetic aspects of pharmacotherapy especially related to therapeutic and adverse drug effects with a potential of their individual prediction.
The number of published pharmacogenetic papers in psychiatry grows. In schizophrenia, nearly all studies published in the last century were concerned with clozapine, more recent publications also mention olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone and other preparations.
Research into the 5-HT2A receptor gene looks promising with regard to prediction of treatment response to second generation antipsychotics. The results of studies on the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the gene for serotonin transporter are hopeful in the field of mood disorders.
Pharmacogenetic findings have not yet been implemented into routine psychiatric practice, but this development can be expected in the future.