Science and Individualizing the Treatment of Depression

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Dr. Richard Metzner writes about the role of neurochemistry in selecting antidepressants for individual patients in the September 2013 issue of ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

 From the article:

"Despite marked differences in the psychobiological profiles of depressed patients, clinical research has not supported selection of antidepressant (AD) medications based on neurochemistry. Prescribers have been advised to start all patients on the same class of ADs and then switch or combine them until benefit is achieved. New research may transform this practice. By matching clinical moderators to neurochemical mediators, health professionals may finally be able to overcome the disappointing remission rates associated with initial AD treatments and avoid the progressively worsening results associated with current trial and error approaches." Metzner RJ (2013) The impact of neurochemical mediators on antidepressant effectiveness, ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2013, 4 (9), pp 1245–1248.