Treatment response to risperidone: farmacogenetic study in a cohort of first episode of psychosis patients

• Grant number: 16/18307-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Grantee: Giovany Oliveira Homem da Costa
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Psychosis characterizes a group of severe and incapacitating mental disorders. Delays in establishing adequate treatment and weak response to initial treatment are among the main factors for poor prognosis. Recently, the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in schizophrenia has found 108 regions associated with the disease. In a previous study, our group evaluated the transcriptome and metilome of patients in First Episode of Psychosis (FEP) before and after treatment with Risperidone, identifying genes that could be directly related with treatment response. The present study proposes the identification of genetic polymorphisms related to Risperidone's treatment response. Therefore, 100 patients will be evaluated in FEP without previous usage of antipsychotic medication. They'll be subjected to clinical evaluation and peripheral blood collection before and after 2 months of treatment. To evaluate risperidone's response, data from PANSS of the first and second evaluation will be considered. We'll obtain polymorphisms genotyping based on data withdrawn from genomic arrays through bioinformatic analysis. SNPs from some candidate regions will be evaluated and selected by two methods: 1) genes in genomic regions associated with schizophrenia (N=108 regions); and 2) genes differentially expressed and methylated in our previous study. The identification of biological markers of response and remission can enable, in the future, a premature and individualized therapeutic action, reducing time of non-treated psychosis and offering better results as to diminish morbidity and raise quality of patient's life. (AU)