Contribution of Common Genetic Variants to Antidepressant Response

Background: Pharmacogenetic studies aiming to personalize the treatment of depression are based on the assumption that response to antidepressants is a heritable trait, but there is no compelling evidence to support this. Methods: We estimate the contribution of common genetic variation to antidepressant response with Genome-Wide Complex Trait Analysis in a combined sample of 2799 antidepressant-treated subjects with major depressive disorder and genome-wide genotype data. Results: We find that common genetic variants explain 42% (SE = .180, p = .009) of individual differences in antidepressant response. Conclusions: These results suggest that response to antidepressants is a complex trait with substantial contribution from a large number of common genetic variants of small effect.