Korean J Biol Psychiatry.  2015 Nov;22(4):179-186. 10.0000/kjbp.2015.22.4.179.

R347C Polymorphisms in ADRA1A Genes and Mirtazapine Treatment Response in Koreans with Major Depression

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. leeminso@korea.ac.kr

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
Adrenergic alpha 1 and 2 receptors work as pathways to control the serotonergic neuron moderation and mirtazapine acts as antagonist of these receptors. The adrenoreceptor alpha 1a (ADRA1A) gene, which encodes adrenergic alpha 1 receptor, has Arg347Cys genetic polymorphism and the polymorphism has strong relationship with many neuro-psychiatric diseases. In this study, we explored the relationship between ADRA1A R347C polymorphism and mirtazapine treatment response in Koreans with major depression.
METHODS
352 patients enrolled in this study, and the symptoms were evaluated by 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating (HAMD-17) scale. After 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks of mirtazapine treatment, the association between ADRA1A R347C polymorphism and remission/response outcomes was evaluated.
RESULTS
Treatment response to mirtazapine was significantly better in T allele carriers than C allele homozygotes after 12 weeks of mirtazapine monotherapy. The percentile decline of HAMD-17 score in T allele carriers was larger than that of C allele homozygotes. ADRA1A R347C genotypes were not significantly associated with remission.
CONCLUSIONS
The result showed that treatment response to mirtazapine was significantly associated with ADRA1A R347C genetic polymorphism. T allele carriers showed better treatment response than C allele homozygotes. It can be supposed that T allele carriers have a trend of better treatment response to mirtazapine monotherapy.

Keyword

Major depressive disorder; Adrenoreceptor alpha 1a; ADRA1A R347C; Mirtazapine; Treatment response

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Depression*
Depressive Disorder, Major
Genotype
Homozygote
Humans
Polymorphism, Genetic
Serotonergic Neurons
Full Text Links
  • KJBP
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr