FINDINGS: Basing their study on 80 depressed Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles, the researchers found that depressed and highly anxious patients with a variant of the CRH gene (CRHR1) had a 70 percent greater reduction in anxiety and a 30 percent greater reduction in depression in response to the anti-depressants Prozac and desipramine than did patients without the gene variation in question.
IMPACT: The findings for the first time show an association between responses to specific anti-depressants and a stress-related gene. Physicians have generally taken a "hit and miss" approach to prescribing anti-depressants. The findings show promise in helping physicians tailor prescriptions to specific people.
AUTHOR: The lead author was Julio Licinio, professor of psychiatric and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
JOURNAL: Molecular Psychiatry, available online Dec. 16 at www.nature.com/mp .
FUNDERS: National Institutes of Health and the Dana Foundation.
Molecular Psychiatry