Abstract: Epidemiological survey shows that the prevalence, incidence rate and symptoms of mental disorders are affected by sex. A large number of studies have shown that men and women respond differently to psychotropic drugs in clinical application. Moreover, some studies have shown that there are sex specific psychotropic drug use patterns in patients with depression. This paper summarizes the sex differences in pharmacokinetics of psychotropic drugs caused by physiological differences between men and women, and collates the current pharmacodynamic studies of mainstream clinical psychotropic drugs, with special attention to the effect of sex hormones on the therapeutic response of psychotropic drugs. This paper discusses the specific role and necessity of therapeutic drug monitoring in dealing with clinical sex differences in psychotropic drugs, hoping to provide reference for individual rational drug use.

Key words: psychotropic drugs, sex differences, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, therapeutic drug monitoring