The serotonin transporter gene and effectiveness of SSRIs.

The definition of a genetic liability profile for specific antidepressant treatment will soon be available, offering considerable help in early detection of effective therapy in mood disorders. The search for genetic factors predisposing to drug response or side effects in mood disorders started only in the last few years. The efficacy of antidepressant action was associated with several polymorphisms, located on coding genes of proteins thought to be involved in the different mechanisms of action of antidepressant treatments. Among these, gene variants in sequences of serotonin pathway proteins were candidates, both for the well-known evidence of its involvement in the development of depressive symptoms and for the worldwide use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as first-choice treatment of depression. A polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (SERTPR) was independently associated with efficacy for a range of treatments. This article reviews the pharmacogenetic studies published to date, focusing the attention on the SERTPR.