Pharmacogenetic Drug Administration and Community Health: A Cross-Sectional Telecommunication-Based Study

Drugs are considered pharmacogenetic (PGx) when genetic variants impact their efficacy, metabolism, or toxicity due to drug-gene interactions. This study aimed to elucidate PGx drug intake patterns in population samples.

The Short Message Service (SMS) invitations were sent to randomly selected adult clients of a telecommunication company. A total of 2,149 respondents were enrolled. The online questionnaire included questions on demographic, clinical, pharmacological, behavioral, and other factors. PharmGKB resources were used to identify PGx genes potentially involved in pharmacotherapy outcomes. Proneness to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was assessed based on the ADR index (ADRi).

Most respondents (68.45%) were taking pharmacotherapy (433 drugs) associated with 839 PGx genes. The top five PGx drugs included bisoprolol, aspirin, losartan, indapamide, and omeprazole. The five most important PGx gene families involved in pharmacotherapy were CYP, UGT, SLC, IL, and HLA. The top five PGx genes were: CYP3A5, ABCB1, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and ACE. The number of PGx genes per drug ranged from 0-138. A high number of PGx genes associated with pharmacotherapy were observed in patients with coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, endocrine diseases, dyssomnia, and rheumatic diseases. PGx burden significantly correlated with health conditions, median ADRi values, health-related behavioral traits, and clinical-pharmacology characteristics (p <0.001).

The high prevalence of PGx drug utilization encourages the implementation of pre-emptive PGx testing. In the meantime, medical history taking, dose adjustment, assessment of drug blood concentrations, and committing to medical minimalism may prevent PGx-triggered ADRs.