Your SLC6A4 Gene Test Result Won’t Help Personalize your Therapy for Depression. These Other Results Won’t Either.
There are many genetic test panels available to help understand how you will respond to antidepressant therapy. Here is a strong word of caution, however. In the case of testing genes important for medicines for depression, measuring more genes is not better. Some genetic testing laboratories offer a panel of genes that can include up to 2 dozen genes. But does knowing your genotype for all of these genes increase the usefulness of the test? No, and here’s why. Remember that a pharmacogenetic test is only helpful if it can be interpreted by someone into a recommendation for dosing a medication. This is where evidence-based medicine is so important. Evidence for the usefulness of a pharmacogenetic test can be established through peer-reviewed literature in medical journals and demonstrated by clinical practice guidelines. Several societies have published guidelines about how to use pharmacogenetic test results to choose antidepressant therapy. They include CPIC, or the Clini...