Polymorphic Variations in 5-HT2A, 5-HTT and DISC 1 in First Episode Schizophrenia Patients.
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Schizophrenia is a severe psychotic disorder characteristically marked by a retreat from reality with delusion formation, hallucinations, emotional disharmony, and regressive behaviour. Affecting approximately 1% of the worldwide population and is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Studies suggest that genetics, early environment, neurobiology and psychological and social processes are important contributory factors. Family, twin, and adoption studies provided strong evidence of a genetic contribution to the aetiology of schizophrenia. However, attempts to isolating specific genes that confer vulnerability to the disorder have thus far been only moderately succesful. Schizophrenia is a condition of complex inheritance, with several genes possibly interacting to generate risk for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic disease without remission and the treatment requires the use of antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotics have a multitarget profile without a clear mechanism of action. The aims of pharmacogenetic investigations are the identification of genes influencing response, validation of targets, prediction of treatment response, prediction of side-effects, identification of patients likely to respond to a particular treatment, and the selection of most beneficial treatment according to genetic profile. Identification of drug-target mutations with a direct influence on treatment outcome would constitute evidence of specific mediators of drug activity (1). Currently available antipsychotic drugs achieve a certain degree of clinical improvement in the treatment of psychosis in about 50% of schizophrenia patients (1-3). Antipsychotic treatment failure has substantial clinical and economic costs. Delay in finding an adequate treatment for psychosis has a detrimental effect on patients prognosis’ and chances of recovery (4-5). These strong implications reinforce the need for pharmacogenetic research into factors affecting antipsychotic response and ways to predict clinical outcome.
Source: PubMed
Author: L Medina González
Institution: Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2566720806