Personalized medicine in psychiatry: problems and promises

• Published in: BMC medicine Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 132
• Main Authors: Ozomaro, Uzoezi, Wahlestedt, Claes, Nemeroff, Charles B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 16.05.2013; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Biomarkers - analysis; Bipolar disorder; Care and treatment; Depression, Mental; Disease; Disease susceptibility; Epigenesis, Genetic - genetics; Epigenetics; Forecasting; Genes; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genetics; Humans; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - genetics; Mental Disorders - therapy; Methods; Neuroimaging - methods; Neuroimaging - trends; Pharmaceutical industry; Pharmacogenetics; Polymorphism; Precision medicine; Precision Medicine - methods; Precision Medicine - trends; Psychiatry; Psychiatry - methods; Psychiatry - trends; Psychotherapy; Review; Schizophrenia; Serotonin; Studies; United States
• ISSN: 1741-7015; 1741-7015
• DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-11-132

The central theme of personalized medicine is the premise that an individual’s unique physiologic characteristics play a significant role in both disease vulnerability and in response to specific therapies. The major goals of personalized medicine are therefore to predict an individual’s susceptibility to developing an illness, achieve accurate diagnosis, and optimize the most efficient and favorable response to treatment. The goal of achieving personalized medicine in psychiatry is a laudable one, because its attainment should be associated with a marked reduction in morbidity and mortality. In this review, we summarize an illustrative selection of studies that are laying the foundation towards personalizing medicine in major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. In addition, we present emerging applications that are likely to advance personalized medicine in psychiatry, with an emphasis on novel biomarkers and neuroimaging.