Pharmacogenomics in Alzheimer's disease

Scientists from the EuroEspes Biomedical Research Center, La Coruna, Spain, presented the conclusions of a pharmacogenomics study in Alzheimer's disease at the Sixth International Stockholm/Springfield Symposium on Advances in Alzheimer Therapy, held in Stockholm, April 5-8, 2000. The authors carried out a genomic screening to search for potential genes associated with neuronal death and found that in practically all 23 human chromosomes, except chromosome 16, there is at least one gene whose dysfunction is associated with neuronal death and/or dementia-related syndromes. This distribution of genomic loci related to neurodegeneration could indicate that is unlikely that a single drug would be capable of preventing neuronal death in subjects with a multifactorial, polygenic disease and that a genotype-related differential response should be expected in AD patients treated with any potential neuroprotective drug. It is suggested that AD patients be genotyped prior to the administration of novel drugs and that a pharmacogenomics approach to AD treatment would help in the development of more effective drugs and in the prediction of therapeutic responses.