Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry: search for refractoriness markers in depressed patients undergoing ECT

• Grant number: 11/17223-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: April 14, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Wagner Farid Gattaz
• Grantee: Carolina Martins Do Prado
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psiquiatria Doutor Antonio Carlos Pacheco e Silva (IPq). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Refractory depression is characterized by severe episodes of long duration which do not remit after usual antidepressant treatment. Up to 20% of these patients fail to respond to treatment with multiple antidepressants and require electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to achieve response and remission. To minimize the duration of the disease, the emergence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and medical costs with treatment, it is useful to have prior knowledge of the therapy that will probably be more effective and better tolerated for each patient. Pharmacogenetics is the science that studies how different genetic factors influence the variation in drug response. The most important targets of pharmacogenetics are the genes that encode proteins responsible for the pharmacokinetics (absorption, metabolism and excretion) and also genes responsible for the pharmacodynamics (interaction with receptors) of drugs. Therefore, pharmacogenetics correlates phenotypic traits of drug response to genetic markers, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions, deletions and microsatellite, and RNA splicing. Patients referred for ECT are by definition, individuals that did not respond to drug treatment. The objective of this project is to study polymorphisms in genes responsible for the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antidepressants in patients whit depression undergoing ECT, in order to identify possible markers of resistance to drug treatment. The knowledge of these markers could contribute to the individualization of therapy, improving the effectiveness of depression treatment.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

PRADO, Carolina Martins Do. Pharmacogenetics in psychiatry: search for genetics markers of refractority on depressed patients under electroconvulsive therapy. 2016. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD) São Paulo.