title: Understanding outliers on the usual dose-response curve: venlafaxine as a way to phenotype patients in terms of their CYP 2D6 status and why it matters.
abstract: Venlafaxine is a model substrate for the drug metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme 2D6. The desvenlafaxine/venlafaxine ratio, either after a single dose or at steady state, can be used to determine whether a patient is functionally (i.e., phenotypically) a CYP 2D6 extensive or poor metabolizer (EM or PM). In turn, CYP 2D6 EM and PM status is important in determining the efficacy of venlafaxine as an antidepressant. Based on a secondary analysis of four of the venlafaxine registration trials, venlafaxine was effective in patients who were CYP 2D6 EMs versus a parallel placebo-treated control group, whereas it was not effective in patients who were CYP 2D6 PMs. Thus, venlafaxine is a useful example of how drugs can be used to quantify differences in drug metabolizing capacity among patients and how such differences can in turn affect the efficacy of a drug (i.e., make a patient an outlier on the usual dose-response curve).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Sheldon H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Preskorn
mesh_terms: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D003511:Cyclohexanols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D019389:Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000069468:Desvenlafaxine Succinate; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D003511:Cyclohexanols; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride; D019389:Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6; D000069468:Desvenlafaxine Succinate