title: Antidepressant drug-drug interaction profile update.
abstract: Drug-drug interactions continue to be underappreciated and misunderstood by most clinicians. Although life-threatening drug interactions are rare, serious clinical consequences, including altered drug response, poor tolerability with reduced medication adherence, and increased costs for care tied to the increased complexity of therapy, are fairly commonplace. Drug interactions may be further complicated by genetic differences in metabolic capacity. Patients who routinely require long-term treatment for depression have an increased likelihood of experiencing a drug-drug interaction since they will take over-the-counter and prescription medications for intercurrent and/or co-morbid illness. Antidepressants can be the object of drug interactions when their metabolic pathways are affected by other substances, or they can precipitate interactions by inhibiting enzyme pathways. Clinicians can improve the short- and long-term outcomes of patients with a depressive disorder by considering the possibility of drug-drug interactions both before prescribing a specific antidepressant and while monitoring for response, adverse effects and patient compliance.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA. larry.ereshefsky@cctrials.com
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ereshefsky
authors.forename: Stanford
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jhee
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grothe
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System