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Genetic testing that helps doctors select the right antidepressant for a patient did not lead to better improvements in depressive symptoms than standard prescriptions based on clinical guidelines, according to a clinical trial in Australia conducted by an international team of researchers.

Led by professor Jonathan Emery of NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and published in The Lancet Primary Care, the study challenges previous findings that using a patient's genetic information to personalize antidepressant treatment leads to better outcomes.

According to the researchers, the trial is the first to test this approach for patients with depression in primary care.

Understanding how a person's unique genetic profile affects the way they respond to medications, also known as pharmacogenetics, is increasingly being explored to optimize treatments.

A test that uncovers these genetic variations may help physicians identify and prescribe drugs that are more effective for individual patients.

In the trial, 552 adults aged 18 to 65 with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms across 19 general practices in Victoria, Australia, were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

Primary care physicians treating participants in one group received prescribing recommendations based on patients' genetic profiles, specifically variations in the CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 genes, which influence how the body metabolizes common antidepressants. Physicians caring for the other group received the report with recommended treatments based on Australian Therapeutic Guidelines.

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