Canadian scientists conducted a 52-week, double-blind, controlled study that compared
The study included 276 patients,who were diagnosed with resistant (resistant) depression, that is, their condition did not improve after treatment with two different antidepressants. The results showed an almost two-fold increase in the number of patients in remission with the new treatment approach compared to the traditional one.
Usually pharmacological treatment of a largedepressive disorder is based on the selection of a drug by a psychiatrist by trial and error. At the same time, according to researchers, less than 40% of patients achieve remission during the first trial therapy.
Pharmacogenetics is based on the premise thatEach person may metabolize or respond to medications differently depending on their individual genetic profile. This means that patients taking the same dose of the drug may have different levels of the active substance in the blood, which leads to differences in the effectiveness of treatment and the development of side effects.
Pharmacogenetic testing is an analysis of individual genes of a particular person for individual selection of the drug and the required dosage.
To analyze changes in the condition of patients, physiciansThe Hamilton Depression Scale was used. This methodology measures the severity of depression on the basis of 17 indicators, nine of which are assessed on a four-point scale, and the remaining eight on a two-point scale. The lower the score, the milder the depressive disorder.
The researchers assessed the reduction in symptoms,response to treatment and remission. According to the results of the evaluation, already at the eighth week of treatment, combination therapy based on pharmacogenetic testing was superior to classical treatment in all respects.
Symptom reduction was assessed as a total score on the Hamilton scale. With the combined approach, this indicator decreased by 27.6% versus 22.7% for the classical treatment.
In addition, when choosing drugs based ontesting, the number of patients who responded to treatment (a score on the Hamilton scale decreased by half or more) increased by a third, and the number of patients with remission (absence of depressive symptoms) almost doubled. The researchers note that similar results were shown in the US GUIDED study.
Using pharmacogenetics for treatmenttreatment-resistant depression, we can much more accurately determine which medication will suit each person's unique characteristics and help them fight depression.
James Kennedy, co-author of the study, director of the Tanenbaum Center for Pharmacogenetics at the Mental Health Research Institute, Central Scientific Research Center.
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