Publication: Role of pharmacogenomics in the drug development
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kathmandu University
Abstract
Abstract
Individuals respond differently to drugs and sometimes the effects are unpredictable. Differences in DNA that alter
the expression or function of proteins targeted by drugs can contribute significantly to the variation in the individuals
responses. The use of pharmacogenomics is to identify genetic polymorphisms that predispose patients to adverse
drug effects that, although they may occur in only a small subset of the people treated with a new medication, are
sufficiently toxic to jeopardise further development of the drug for all patients. Given the potential value of knowing all
the possible factors that influence the effects of new agents, it is likely that pharmacogenomics will have an increasingly
important role in drug discovery and development. This article briefly reviews concepts that underlie the emerging
fields of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics, with an emphasis on the pharmacogenetics of drug metabolism.
Although only a few examples will be provided to illustrate concepts and to demonstrate the potential contribution of
pharmacogenetics to medical practice, it is now clear that virtually every pathway of drug metabolism will eventually
be found to have genetic variation.
Key words: Drug, genotype, pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics
Description
BS Suvarna
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India