NPİSTANBUL Hospital brings a contemporary approach that takes individual differences into account in psychiatric treatment into clinical practice. Pharmacogenetics-based personalized treatment models are integrated with molecular psychiatry to offer patients more effective, safe, and individualized solutions.
With advancing molecular biology, genetic analysis technologies, and advanced imaging methods in psychiatry, personalized treatment is no longer just a vision, but a reality finding application in practice. As one of the pioneering institutions in this transformation, NPİSTANBUL Hospital analyzes the effects of psychiatric medications according to individual genetic profiles through its Clinical Pharmacogenetics Laboratory and shapes treatment plans in line with these data.
The Future Begins Here
Stating that the work carried out by NPİSTANBUL Hospital at the molecular level guides the treatment approach of not only today but also tomorrow, Üsküdar University Founding President Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "These studies, compatible with international publication platforms, make a major contribution to better managing diseases, predicting treatment responses, and increasing patient safety."
Expressing that considering the laboratory infrastructure, they are currently in a position to have initiated many firsts on this subject in Turkey, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan spoke as follows: "Especially since our concept as a theme at the establishment of the university focused on behavioral sciences in the field of health, we chose neuroscience as an important R&D focus. Our application and science partner, NPİSTANBUL Hospital, is a part of these studies. It provides us with serious support in applying the latest treatment methods. The Faculty of Medicine is the same way. At the same time, we have laboratory infrastructures that enable studies related to neuroscience and neurogenetics. We have initiated efforts regarding the laboratory where we can carry out stem cell studies."
Noting that they work in a multidisciplinary field related to brain sciences—meaning where neurosciences, computer sciences, and other psychological sciences come together—Tarhan said, "Therefore, right at the initial establishment time of the university, we opened computer and software engineering, bioengineering, and Turkish and English molecular biology and genetics departments in the first year and had graduates. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic period, the bioengineering and molecular biology-genetics graduates from our university became highly sought-after personnel. They found job opportunities everywhere. Currently, a PCR test is applied at the entrance of many institutions. They give results within 1-1.5 hours, and if it is not done, they do not let people in. We gave importance and priority to this field because we foresee it as the profession of the future. Our young people also saw the benefits of this."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "If psychiatrists mark time, they will lose schizophrenia too"
Stating that as a university they chose neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and autism in the R&D field, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that many psychiatric diseases are now examined by neurologists and issued warnings to psychiatry specialists: "We cannot say that schizophrenia is not a neurodegenerative disease anymore at this point. Especially, connectomes related to the disease in the brain have begun to be understood. Maybe 5-10 years from now, instead of schizophrenia, we will say this connectome disorder of the brain. We will say that there is a speech disorder in this region or that region of the brain. We won't say depression or bipolar, but diagnosis will be made based on pathology. Currently, diagnosis in psychiatry is made descriptively based on classification, not pathology. Neurologists are currently more involved with autism and schizophrenia. If psychiatrists continue to mark time, just as they lost Alzheimer's, they will entrust schizophrenia to behavioral neurologists and autism to pediatric neurologists. It is necessary to know this. If he does not follow the innovation in neuroscience, only depression will remain in the psychiatrist's hand, and then psychiatry can be reduced to just a specialty of depression. There is also currently a lot of evidence that depression is a disease of the prefrontal cortex. For this reason, if psychiatry and psychology professionals are clinicians and want to touch a patient, they have to know the brain. It is not ethical to give a psychology diploma to a person who lacks basic brain knowledge."
Stating that they opened the Neuromarketing Master's Program for the first time in Turkey as a university, Tarhan noted that they have strategic targets regarding neuroscience and said, "Our publications regarding this have also multiplied quite a bit at a certain point. We have also established a structure related to R&D and innovative policies so that more research can be conducted and TUBITAK projects can be obtained. Being a part of international projects is very important."
Molecular Psychiatry and Genetic Harmony: Bringing the Scientific Future to Today
As underlined in scientifically reputable publications such as *Molecular Psychiatry*, studies aiming to understand mechanisms at the biological level are revolutionizing the treatment of psychiatric diseases today. In response to this paradigm, NPİSTANBUL Hospital offers personalized treatment programs supported by pharmacogenetic tests to the service of patients.
The CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP1A2, and CYP3A4 genotypings performed in the NPİSTANBUL Hospital laboratory guide treatment by revealing the most critical genetic variations affecting drug metabolism. In addition, polymorphisms in genes associated with neuropsychiatric effects, such as 5HTT and COMT, are also analyzed to optimize antidepressant and antipsychotic treatments.
Personalized Psychiatric Treatment: The Trial-and-Error Era is Left Behind
Thanks to pharmacogenetic tests, the answers to the following questions can now be provided at the genetic level:
- Which medication will this patient respond to?
- Which dose is the most appropriate one for him?
- Which side effects carry a high risk?
- Which medication combinations are safe?
The scientific answers given to these questions rescue the treatment process from the trial-and-error cycle, making it faster, more effective, and safer. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) methods and phenotyping studies conducted with a probe drug applied in our laboratory allow for the establishment of genotype-phenotype correlation and the guidance of treatment at the biological level.
Clinical Pharmacogenetics Laboratory: Scientific Infrastructure, Clinical Impact
Realized in cooperation with NPİSTANBUL Hospital and Üsküdar University, the Medical Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory offers the following opportunities with its advanced device infrastructure and expert staff:
- DNA/RNA isolation
- Conventional PCR, RFLP, sequence analysis, and Real-time PCR
- Gene expression analyses
- Phenotyping and drug level monitoring
Thanks to this comprehensive infrastructure, treatment approaches appropriate for the individual nature of psychiatric diseases are developed. Side effects that may arise during treatment can be predicted in advance, thereby increasing medication safety and patient satisfaction.
The Importance of Personalized Treatment in Psychiatry is Increasing
The fact that the rapidly spreading understanding of “personalized medicine” in the world finds more response in the treatment of psychiatric diseases brings about positive changes in patient outcomes. As one of the pioneers of this transformation in Turkey, NPİSTANBUL Hospital guides molecular psychiatry with its scientifically based, ethical, and patient-oriented approach.
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https://npistanbul.com/klinik-farmakogenetik-laboratuvari
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