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There is substantial unexplained interindividual variability in the drug treatment of schizophrenia. A substantial proportion of patients respond inadequately to antipsychotic drugs, and many experience limiting side effects. As genetic factors are likely to contribute to this variability, the pharmacogenetics of schizophrenia has attracted substantial effort. The approaches have mainly been limited to association studies of polymorphisms in candidate genes, which have been indicated by the pharmacology of antipsychotic drugs. Although some advances have been made, particularly in understanding the pharmacogenetics of some limiting side effects, genetic prediction of symptom response remains elusive. Nevertheless, with improvements in defining the response phenotype in carefully assessed and homogeneous subject groups, the near future is likely to see the identification of genetic predictors of outcome that may inform the choice of pharmacotherapy.

Original publication

DOI

10.1517/14656566.7.11.1429

Type

Journal article

Journal

Expert Opin Pharmacother

Publication Date

08/2006

Volume

7

Pages

1429 - 1440

Keywords

Animals, Antipsychotic Agents, Humans, Pharmacogenetics, Polymorphism, Genetic, Schizophrenia, Weight Gain