Ethnic differences in drug response

People from different ethnic or environmental backgrounds may respond differently to psychotropic drugs. The underlying psychogenic or biochemical cause of mental illness may vary in different cultures and cause differences in the presenting symptomatology. The psychotropic effect of drugs may then differ or be interpreted differently. Also, the pharmacokinetics of drugs, particularly rates of metabolism, may differ on account of genetic and/or environmental factors. The relevance of such differences to general clinical treatment will depend on the type of drug. If the margin of safety of a particular compound is small, then variation due to ethnic origin may be an important factor. For relatively safe drugs this is not so crucial but, in psychiatry particularly, unpleasant drug-induced side effects are common and it is desirable to find the preparation most acceptable to the individual. Clinical findings should not be extrapolated from one culture to another without examination of the relevant ethnic groups.