Amitriptyline revisited : pharmacogenetic implications in antidepressant treatment

Abstract

A poster presentation regarding amitriptyline and the pharmacogenetic implications in antidepressant treatment. Introduction: An interesting lead of pharmacogenomics is whether drug potential could be maximized through reattribution of medical purpose for drugs in which the balance between efficacy and toxicity has been difficult to strike in the general population. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are often overlooked in psychiatry on claims of poor tolerability, although cheaper with a potential efficacy advantage. Most data available on TCAs derives from an era when genotyping studies were not available. Aims: To assess whether genotyping is apt to translate biomarkers into individualised treatment with amitriptyline and whether harmonized labelling that allows interpretation of pharmacogenetic data can support in exploiting the benefit of a relatively inexpensive antidepressant.