Pharmacogenetics and its clinical applications in opioid therapy

• Main Authors: Caterina Aurilio, Pasquale Sansone, Vincenzo Pota
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publiediting 2008-12-01
• Series: Pathos
• Subjects: Pharmacogenetics; opioids; opioid switching
• Online Access: http://www.pathos-journal.com/doc/2008_4_Rassegna_Aurilio.pdf

There are a lot of individual differences in the effectiveness of opioids. The reasons of this variability could be the heterogeneity of underlying diseases, the ineffective doses administered and finally, an individual’s pharmacogenetics. Pharmacogenetics is the study of genetics in interindividual variability to drug response and therapy. Genetic variation leads to interpersonal variability in drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, and so affects a drug’s effi cacy and toxicity. The understanding of the role and the mechanism of a patient’s genetic background could help us organize a target antalgic therapy in order to optimize the effectiveness of every opioid and reduce the adverse event.