Mechanisms of drug response variability

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) often require hospital admissions, with increasing frequency especially in elderly patients. European scientists focused on the individual variability in drug response and metabolism in relation to ADRs.

Currently, only about 30 to 60 % of patients show proper response to treatment with such drugs as antidepressants, beta-blockers, statins or antipsychotics. It is established that epigenetic modifications play an important role in the regulation of human genes involved in absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of drugs. In certain cases, epigenetic modifications can be monitored not only in the affected tissues but also in body fluids in the form of DNA elements originating from the tissues. Such circulating DNA elements represent a novel class of epigenetic biomarkers that could be critical for drug therapy individualisation and improvement.

Further information: Mechanisms of drug response variability