Genetic determinants associated with response to clozapine in schizophrenia: an umbrella review

Psychiatr Genet. 2022 Oct 1;32(5):163-170. doi: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000320. Epub 2022 Jul 20.

Abstract

Objective: Clozapine response varies widely from person to person, which may be due to inter-individual genetic variability. This umbrella review aims to summarize the current evidence on associations between pharmacodynamic genes and response to clozapine treatment.

Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis methodology, a systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed and EMBASE databases from inception to November 2021 to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that examined genetic determinants of clozapine response. The quality of the reviews was assessed with the AMSTAR-2 tool.

Results: From a total of 128 records, 10 studies representing nine systematic reviews and one meta-analysis met our inclusion criteria. The overall quality of the included studies was poor. All systematic reviews concluded that the results of primary studies were largely negative or conflicting. Most evidence was found for an association with clozapine response and rs6313 and rs6314 within HTR2A and rs1062613 within HTR3A in the serotonergic system.

Conclusions: Conclusive evidence for associations between genetic variants and clozapine response is still lacking. Hypothesis-generating genetic studies in large, well-characterized study populations are urgently needed to obtain more consistent and clinically informative results. Future studies may also include multi-omics approaches to identify novel genetic determinants associated with clozapine response.

Publication types

  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Clozapine* / therapeutic use
  • Databases, Factual
  • Humans
  • Schizophrenia* / drug therapy
  • Schizophrenia* / genetics
  • Systematic Reviews as Topic

Substances

  • Clozapine