Psychotropic medication plays a crucial role in the field of mental illness,and the issues of drug efficacy and safety due to individual differences cannot be ignored.Genetic factors,especially the genetic poly-morphisms related to drug-metabolizing enzymes,drug action targets,and risk,have a significant impact on drug responses.Pharmacogenomics,by detecting genetic polymorphisms,can reveal a patient's inherited tend-encies towards drug efficacy,pharmacokinetic characteristics,and potential toxicity,thereby predicting the therapeutic effects and adverse reactions of drug treatment,and providing guidance for personalized therapy.Therefore,individualized medication based on pharmacogenomics helps to improve cure rates,reduce relapse rates,and decrease medical costs,which is of great significance to clinical medication in mental illness.

Objective To study the differences in retinoic acid receptor γ(RARγ) mRNA expression levels in blood leukocytes between antipsychotic-free and antipsychotic-naive schizophrenic patients and healthy control,especially in different genders. Methods Forty-three acute schizophrenic patients who were antipsychotic-naive or antipsychotic-free for at least three months (male = 34, female = 9) and 39 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (male =25 ,female = 14) were included for blood leukocytes expression of RAR γ mRNA ,using real-time PCR technique. Results Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z analysis showed a significant increase of RARγ mRNA (P =0.041) level in blood leukocytes of pooled schizophrenic patients(0. 027 ± 0. 003) than in the healthy subjects (0. 020 ± 0.002). The elevation was mainly found in the female patients (0. 030 ± 0.003). Within-sex analysis showed that the female schizophrenic patients showed a trend increase (P = 0. 166) of RAR γmRNA expression compared with the male patients (0. 026 ± 0. 001) and exhibited greater RARγ mRNA expression (P = 0. 014)when compared with the female healthy subjects(0. 018 ±0.004). Conclusions The present findings showed an abnormal expression of leukocyte RARγ mRNA level in antipsychotic-free and antipsychotic-naive schizophrenia especially in the female patients. Blood RARγ markers could add to the diagnosis and individualized pharmacotherapy of schizophrenic patients ,especially the female patients.