Pharmacogenetics

Genes are important modifiers of human response to drugs, hormones, and toxins. Patients and healthy individuals alike display significant differences in response and suffer adverse effects as a result of exposure to many therapeutic agents as well as occupational chemicals. This introductory text brings together laboratory methods and epidemiological studies for defining the role of heredity in human drug response. The book is divided into two parts. Part I describes the emergence and broad scope of pharmacogenetics from an historical viewpoint, as well as the principles of pharmacology and genetics that are used to evaluate the importance and molecular genetic basis of pharmacologic/toxicologic mechanisms of hypersensitivity in humans and experimental animal models. Part II presents the experimental epidemiologic and clinical evidence for the genetics, molecular basis and clinical significance of thirty-three human traits of pharmacogenetic importance. The author includes an extensive discussion of the role of recombinant DNA technology Thus Part II illustrates the application of the basic principles discussed in Part I to real-life situations. This book will benefit upper-level graduate students in pharmacology, genetics, epidemiology, nursing, and public health, and will serve as a handy reference to pharmacists, epidemiologists, and physicians responsible for the delivery and administration of drugs.