Pharmacogenomic diversity in psychiatry: Challenges and Opportunities in Africa

Background Pharmacogenomic studies on psychiatric drugs have slowly identified genetic variations that influence drug metabolism and treatment effectiveness in patients with mental illness. Because most of these studies predominantly centered on people of European descent, there remains a substantial knowledge gap on the clinical implications of current pharmacogenomic evidence in multi-ancestry populations such as Africans. Thus, whether pharmacogenomic (PGx) genetic testing implemented in European populations would be valid for a population of African origin is unknown. The objective of this review was to appraise previous psychiatric pharmacogenomic studies in Africa and highlight challenges and opportunities to initiate PGx testing in the region.