The pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics of asthma therapy.

ABSTRACT: Despite the availability of several classes of asthma medications and their overall effectiveness, a significant portion of patients fail to respond to these therapeutic agents. Evidence suggests that genetic factors may partly mediate the heterogeneity in asthma treatment response. This review discusses important findings in asthma pharmacogenetic and pharmacogenomic studies conducted to date, examines limitations of these studies and, finally, proposes future research directions in this field. The focus will be on the three major classes of asthma medications: β-adrenergic receptor agonists, inhaled corticosteroids and leukotriene modifiers. Although many studies are limited by small sample sizes and replication of the findings is needed, several candidate genes have been identified. Hig

SUBMITTER: Tse SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3298891 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature