Pharmacogenetics of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders

Precision medicine utilizing genetic testing has recently received much attention given that the variability of response and tolerability to psychotropic medications are partly due to an individual's genetic variations. This has led to increasing research to investigate the role of specific genetic factors on psychotropic medication response and utility of testing in the clinical realm. Antidepressant medications are the first-line pharmacological treatment for anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, 20-50% of patients show poor or minimal response to these medications. We will review the current literature on pharmacogenetics in psychiatry, specifically in anxiety disorders and OCD. Genetic variants may be clinically useful in predicting antidepressant resistance versus response in patients with anxiety disorders and/or OCD, thereby, reducing their duration of suffering via the traditional trial-and-error method of prescribing and improving clinical outcome. Limited studies have been published in pharmacogenetics of anxiety disorders and OCD with inconsistent findings at this time. Future directions should focus more effort into examining pharmacogenetics of these disorders.