Psychiatric Pharmacogenomics

Book excerpt: Psychiatric Pharmacogenomics is a book written to help clinicians to use pharmacogenomic testing to improve the pharmacotherapy that they provide for their patients. It is designed to teach clinicians how to order pharmacogenomic tests and interpret the results. Clinical examples are used to underscore the specific indications for pharmacogenomic testing and to clarify the clinical usefulness of identifying atypical genotypes that result in problematic responses to medication. The first section of the book begins with a basic review of molecular genetics. Additionally, the book also includes an extensive glossary of technical terms associated with molecular genetics and pharmacogenomics. The clinical utility of pharmacogenomic testing is demonstrated throughout the book by describing the implications of genetic variations for the care of individual patients. The second section of the book is organized into fourteen chapters that each focus on the clinical implications of testing for specific genes for which variants have been associated with either therapeutic response or side effects of psychotropic medications. Each of these chapters is structured in the same manner and involves a description of the gene and its significant variants. Each chapter also includes one or more clinical vignettes. The third section of the book discusses the clinical usefulness of pharmacogenomic testing, ethical issues associated with pharmacogenomic testing, and provides predictions for the future development of more sophisticated pharmacogenomic testing.