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By Lindsay Braun, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The Center for Disease Control recently announced in 2004 there was an 8-percent rise in suicides for the 10-to 19-year-old demographic. Also in 2004, the FDA issued a notice, warning people about the possible link between antidepressants and suicidal ideation (thoughts of committing suicide).
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NeuroMark, a company in Boulder, Co., has developed a genetic test, called the Mark-C test, making it possible to differentiate between patients who will benefit from antidepressants and those who will be at risk for suicide ideation. The Mark-C test is not yet FDA-approved, but researchers predict it will be available within a year.
What prompted us to do this is the need in the medical community. There is no test available today that would allow physicians or psychiatrists to make an assessment of whether or not there will be an adverse effect when they prescribe these drugs to their patients, said Peter Tolias, Ph.D., President of NeuroMark. We are trying to bring tools to the physicians to help address this problem.
The announcement of the Mark-C test, comes along with an announcement from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), stating the first set of genes associated with treatment emergent suicide ideation have been identified. The Mark-C incorporates these genetic markers announced by the NIMH as well as other genes researchers believe will increase the predictive accuracy of the test.
The Mark-C test is administered by using a cotton swab to collect DNA from the inside of a patients cheek. The test results will aim to predict whether or not a patient is genetically predisposed to develop suicidal ideation when taking an antidepressant drug in the Citalopram class. Common drugs that can have their outcomes testing for with the Mark-C test include Celexa, or citalopram hydrobromide, and Lexapro, or escitalopram oxalate.
Researchers at NeuroMark plan to administer an outcome survey they hope will serve as a follow up study and database of the tests outcomes. As that data accumulates, we hope it will help validate our initial findings, which were pretty broad, said Dr. Tolias. About 1,900 patients across 40 trial sites participated in the initial study.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Pete Tolias, Ph.D., American Journal of Psychiatry, 2007;164:1-9
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