The pharmacogenetics of the response to warfarin in Chinese.
Warfarin is a commonly used oral anticoagulant with a narrow therapeutic range and large interindividual variability in daily dose. Compared with Caucasians, Chinese are known to require lower doses of warfarin. Differences between Caucasians and Chinese in the allelic frequencies of two genes, CYP2C9 and VKORC1, largely explain the difference in dose requirement. There are other genetic polymorphisms that may further explain the response to warfarin. The VKORC1 genotype is an important determinant of response to warfarin in Chinese, but some genetic variants found in other ethnic groups that have a large effect on warfarin response and dosing are not commonly found in Chinese. Therefore, it is important to recognize and beware of ethnic differences in the pharmacogenetics of the response to warfarin, especially in the design of algorithms to aid dosing in clinical practice.
Department of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
May P S
MP
Lam
Bernard M Y
BM
Cheung
D000465:Algorithms; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001189:Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D065729:Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C9; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000235:genetics*; D010597:Pharmacogenetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D064417:Vitamin K Epoxide Reductases; D014859:Warfarin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
D000925:Anticoagulants; D014859:Warfarin; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; C450260:CYP2C9 protein, human; D065729:Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C9; D001189:Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases; C578523:VKORC1 protein, human; D064417:Vitamin K Epoxide Reductases