Pharmacoepigenetics of mood disorders

Mood disorders are mental health conditions characterized by disturbance in the emotional state that may require long-term or lifetime treatment to limit symptoms manifestation. Several factors contribute to mood disorders, including impaired neurotransmission and intracellular processes, and the understanding of their biological bases is of clear relevance in order to characterize the role of genes and their regulation. Environmental factors may in fact contribute to the development of a mood disorder, and the modulation of gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms should be taken into account to better understand their aetiology. In this chapter, we will thus discuss the epigenetic alterations occurring in mood disorders, how current pharmacotherapies can alter genes transcription through epigenetic mechanisms, and finally the potential role of epigenetic drugs in their treatment.