Pharmacogenetics and Statin Treatment: Reality or Theory?

Pharmacogenetics investigates heritable genetic polymorphisms that can effect responses to drug therapy. The main application of pharmacogenetics is genotype-guided dosing of medications and genotype-selection of treatment with the highest efficacy and lowest risk of adverse effects. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. Dyslipidemia is one of the classical risk factors for developing CVD. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme (HMGCoA) reductase inhibitors called statins are the cornerstones in dyslipidemia treatment. However, there is a broad variation in individual responses to statin treatment. This variation may not only be due to environmental factors such as adherence to treatment, diet and exercise but also due to genetic factors. Many studies have focused on various genetic polymorphisms of genes that are involved in cholesterol metabolism, trying to define their contribution to a potential genotype-guided treatment against dyslipidemia.