title: Pharmacogenetics approach to therapeutics.
abstract: 1. Pharmacogenetics refers to the study of genetically controlled variations in drug response. Functional variants caused by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding drug-metabolising enzymes, transporters, ion channels and drug receptors have been known to be associated with interindividual and interethnic variation in drug response. Genetic variations in these genes play a role in influencing the efficacy and toxicity of medications. 2. Rapid, precise and cost-effective high-throughput technological platforms are essential for performing large-scale mutational analysis of genetic markers involved in the aetiology of variable responses to drug therapy. 3. The application of a pharmacogenetics approach to therapeutics in general clinical practice is still far from being achieved today owing to various constraints, such as limited accessibility of technology, inadequate knowledge, ambiguity of the role of variants and ethical concerns. 4. Drug actions are determined by the interplay of several genes encoding different proteins involved in various biochemical pathways. With rapidly emerging SNP discovery technological platforms and widespread knowledge on the role of SNPs in disease susceptibility and variability in drug response, the pharmacogenetics approach to therapeutics is anticipated to take off in the not-too-distant future. This will present profound clinical, economic and social implications for health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seok Hwee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Edmund Jon Deoon
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000235:genetics; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D030661:Genetic Privacy; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D014453:Glucuronosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010548:Personal Health Services / Q000639:trends*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000378:metabolism; D010597:Pharmacogenetics / Q000639:trends*; D010599:Pharmacokinetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D007473:Ion Channels; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D014453:Glucuronosyltransferase