Personalized antipsychotic treatment: the adverse effects perspectives.

Antipsychotics are the lodestar in the treatment of schizophrenia despite the variability of the therapeutic response and drug-induced adverse effects (especially extrapyramidal symptoms, gain weight, and metabolic disturbances). More and more data are supporting the notion that genetic factors - as well as often overlooked personal and environmental factors - that define the inter-individual differences in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic treatment response. At present, there are no practical pharmakogenetic tests that could be used in everyday clinical practice; however, in the field of psychiatry they are expected within a few years. Pharmacogenetic tests will indubitably become an important tool for personalized prescription.