Clinical Applications of Pharmacogenetics in Improving Drug Safety

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) impacts the individual risk for adverse drug reactions (ADRs). In particular, non-dose-related type B ADRs such as hypersensitivity reactions can be connected to pharmacogenetic variants mainly of the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) system. In addition, an increased risk for dose-dependent type A ADRs can be expected with pharmacogenetic variants altering drug metabolism activity of enzymes. Treatment recommendations exist to guide the use of PGx for the prevention of ADRs. However, challenges for the successful implementation of PGx for optimizing drug safety exist, including interethnic differences, the extrapolation of a phenotype from a genotype in multimedicated patients, and the needed infrastructure. Hence, the application of PGx is a promising approach for improvement of drug safety, but there are some limitations that need to be considered.