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Asthma pharmacogenetics: responding to the call for a personalized approach
Victor E Ortega1, Michael E Wechsler
1Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. vortega@wakehealth.edu
Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|June 27, 2013
Summary
Pharmacogenetics research is advancing personalized asthma treatment. Genetic variations influence how patients respond to asthma medications, guiding tailored therapy selection for better outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacogenomics
- Genetics
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Asthma management is complex due to variable patient responses to therapies.
- Personalized medicine aims to tailor asthma treatments based on individual patient profiles.
- Identifying responders and those at risk for adverse effects is crucial for effective asthma care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of pharmacogenetics in understanding asthma treatment responses.
- To highlight how genetic variations impact efficacy of antiasthma therapies.
- To discuss the contribution of genomics to personalized asthma medicine.
Main Methods:
- Review of pharmacogenetic studies focusing on key asthma-related gene pathways (leukotriene, glucocorticoid, beta2-adrenergic receptor).
- Analysis of candidate gene studies and recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
- Inclusion of findings from prospective genotype-stratified trials in asthma.
Main Results:
- Pharmacogenetic studies have elucidated the impact of gene variations on responses to asthma therapies.
- Previous studies focused on candidate genes; recent work includes GWAS and prospective trials.
- Novel pharmacogenetic loci have been identified through recent large-scale genetic studies.
Conclusions:
- Replication of genotypic associations in large cohorts is essential for future pharmacogenetic studies.
- Genome-wide approaches and investigation of novel therapeutic pathways are key future directions.
- Genetic biomarkers hold significant promise for predicting clinical responses and advancing personalized asthma medicine.
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