Francis McMahon, M.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) explains, "Medications to treat depression are widely available, but no one treatment works for everyone."
"We are seeking to better understand why [trial and error must be used to find the right antidepressant medication], and, using genetic markers, develop personalized treatments that give patients the best chance at remission."
"Ultimately, our goal is to put together a panel of genetic markers that can guide treatment decisions and help doctors choose an antidepressant that will work best for an individual patient."
According to WebMD, McMahon studied data from 1,953 adult patients treated with the antidepressant Celexa. The patients' genes were screened. Certain variations in two genes were associated with response to Celexa treatment. One of those genes is the HTR2A gene, which is linked to serotonin, a brain chemical boosted by some antidepressants, including Celexa. The other gene, called GRlK4, is linked to glutamate, another brain chemical.
