Association of pharmacodynamic genes with treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder: results from a Sardinian cohort

We examined the association of selected candidate pharmacodynamic (PD) genes in MDD with treatment outcomes, defined according to remission thresholds for Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) with 6- and 17- items. To this end, we recruited 158 individuals living with MDD followed in an academic community mental health center. We reconstructed their clinical history and tested the association of a selected panel of pharmacodynamic genes with clinical remission. Our multivariate models were corrected for illness duration, substance use, lifetime stressful events, and sex. We found partially concordant associations for candidate biomarkers and clinical remission defined with HDRS-6 and HDRS-17. In the logistic regression model, two polymorphisms were statistically significantly associated with HDRS-17 remission: namely rs10975641 and rs11628713. Our results suggest that polymorphisms in PD genes might influence clinical response in MDD. Interestingly, we showed some degree of concordance of the association depending on the definition of the response.