Pharmacogenetics of drug transporters and its impact on the pharmacotherapy

Most drug responses are determined by the interplay of several gene products that influence pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, i.e., drug metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters, and drug targets. With the sequencing of the human genome, it has been estimated that approximately 500-1200 genes code for drug transporters. Concerning the effects of genetic polymorphisms on pharmacotherapy, the best characterized drug transporter is the multidrug resistant transporter P-glycoprotein/MDR1, the gene product of MDR1. Little such information is available on other drug transporters. MDR1 is a glycosylated membrane protein of 170 kDa, belonging to the ATP-binding cassette superfamily, and is expressed mainly in intestines, liver, kidneys and brain. A number of various types of structurally unrelated drugs are substrates for MDR1, and their intestinal absorption, hepatobiliary secretion, renal secretion and brain transport are regulated by MDR1. The first investigation on the effects of MDR1 genotypes on pharmacotherapy was reported in 2000: a silent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), C3435T in exon 26, was found to be associated with the duodenal expression of MDR1, and thereby the plasma concentration of digoxin after oral administration. At present, a total of 28 SNPs have been found at 27 positions on the MDR1 gene. Clinical investigations on the association of MDR1 genotypes with the expression and function of MDR1 in tissues, and with pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have mainly focused on C3435T; however, there are still discrepancies in the results, suggesting that the haplotype of the gene should be analyzed instead of a SNP. C3435T is also reported to be a risk factor for a certain class of diseases including the inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson's disease and renal epithelial tumor, and this also might be explained by the effects on MDR1 expression and function. In this review, the latest reports on the effects of genetic polymorphisms of MDR1 on pharmacotherapy are summarized, and the pharmacogenetics of other transporters is briefly introduced.