Influence of a genetic signature on therapeutic effects of clozapine in schizophrenia subjects from South China

AIM:To analyze a possible association of genetic polymorphisms at 27 important candidate SNPs involved in the efficacy of clozapine treatment and provide practical information for individualized treatment. MATERIALS & METHODS: 200 cases of schizophrenia patients were treated with clozapine for 8 weeks. The PANSS before and after treatment were assessed and utilized to divide patients into the responder group and nonresponder group. Genotyping of SNPs in multiple candidate genes were conducted with Multiplex SNaPshot SNP genotyping techniques. RESULTS: Genotype C/C and allele C of 5-HT2C genes rs3813929 (C759T) and rs518147 (G697C) may indicate good clozapine treatment efficacy. DRDl gene polymorphism rs265976 A/C heterozygous genotype may indicate poor clozapine treatment efficacy.DRD2 gene A-241G (rsl799978) polymorphism of A/A homozygous genotype and allele A may indicate good clozapine treatment efficacy. COMT gene vall08/158met (rs4680) polymorphism of A/A (Met/Met) genotype and allele A may indicate good clozapine treatment efficacy. CONCLUSION: These results illustrate the use of genetic markers to predict response to clozapine and support the application of pharmacogenetics to differentiate medication options.