[Role of genetics in psychiatric treatment].

Psychopharmacogenetics was born with the development of psychotropic drugs in psychiatry, that is, slightly after the discovery of the role of lithium in bipolar disorders and of antipsychotic agents in schizophrenia. Psychopharmacogenetics relies on the analyses of the genes involved in treatment response adverse effects, efficacy, and their mechanisms. The utility of psychopharmacogenetics may be substantial. Being able to give each patient the appropriate dosage of the right treatment should enhance not only its immediate efficacy, but also compliance and therefore long-term efficacy. Psychopharmacogenetics nonetheless can provide only partial informations about the factors relevant to the best treatment; it will be a valuable tool for prescribers, without limiting their "know-how". Psychopharmacogenetic studies currently assess patients' capacity for acetylation or detoxification, coded by the NAT gene, whose genetic variants affect the metabolism of many psychotropic drugs.