Comparison of symptoms in African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American and Non-Hispanic White patients with major depressive disorder.

The study compared depressive and associated psychopathological symptoms in 17 African-American, 19 Asian-American, 22 Mexican-American and 41 Non-Hispanic White patients with unipolar major depressive disorder. Overall, severity of depression was comparable among the groups both on clinician-rated and subject-rated measures. However, ethnic-minority groups were more likely to experience diurnal variation of mood, with worsening in the evening. Furthermore, Asian-Americans and Mexican-Americans reported greater severity of anxiety and somatic symptoms. The findings suggest that clinicians should be aware of potential differences in symptom presentation when assessing and treating depressed patients from different ethnic groups.

Genetic polymorphism of cytochrome P450 2C19 in Mexican Americans: a cross-ethnic comparative study.

OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to investigate cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C19 polymorphism in Mexican Americans and compare the findings with those in 4 other ethnic groups. METHODS: The CYP2C19 genotype (n = 346) and S-mephenytoin hydroxylation phenotype (n = 220) were studied in a Mexican American population from Los Angeles County. Another 4 ethnic groups, African Americans (n = 236), whites (n = 273), East Asians (n = 161), and Southeast Asians (n = 80), were also recruited from Los Angeles County and genotyped and phenotyped for CYP2C19. RESULTS: The frequencies of CYP2C19*2 and *3 were 9.7% and 0.1%, respectively, in Mexican Americans, which were lower than those of the other 4 ethnic groups, ranging from 12.7% to 31.2% and 0.8% to 9.6%, respectively (P