Conference report: pharmacogenomics in special populations at WCP2018

Abstract

The 18th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2018), coordinated by IUPHAR and hosted by the Japanese Pharmacological Society and the Japanese Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, was held in July 2018 at the Kyoto International Conference Center, in Kyoto, Japan. Having as its main theme ‘Pharmacology for the Future: Science, Drug Development and Therapeutics’, WCP2018 was attended by over 4500 delegates, representing 78 countries. The present report is an overview of a symposium at WCP2018, entitled Pharmacogenomics in Special Populations, organized by IUPHAR´s Pharmacogenetics/Genomics (PGx) section. The PGx section congregates distinguished scientists from different continents, covering expertise from basic research, to clinical implementation and ethical aspects of PGx, and one of its major activities is the coordination of symposia and workshops to foster exchange of PGx knowledge (https://iuphar.org/sections-subcoms/pharmacogenetics-genomics/). The symposium attracted a large audience to listen to presentations covering various areas of research and clinical adoption of PGx in Oceania, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Implementation and obstacles of pharmacogenetics in clinical practice: An international survey

“…Despite these efforts, PGx clinical implementation may still be facing different challenges in different parts of the world . In addition, the majority of the documented efforts are concentrated in the USA and Europe, while not much information is available from other parts of the world, with few exceptions . Therefore, the aim of this study was to administer a modified version of the 2010 survey, in an electronic format and on an international scale.…”

“…3,[13][14][15][16] In addition, the majority of the documented efforts are concentrated in the USA and Europe, 12,15,17 while not much information is available from other parts of the world, with few exceptions. 18,19 Therefore, the aim of this study was to administer a modified version of the 2010 survey, 5 in an electronic format and on an international scale. The added benefit is being able to compare and contrast differences in implementation and obstacles of PGx in clinical practice in different parts of the world and to compare the progress in the field 8 years after the initial study.…”

Pharmacogenomics spotlight commentary: From the United Kingdom to global populations

“…A recent article reviewed current pharmacogenomics knowledge and clinical adoption in Oceania, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. 7 Data from Oceania nicely illustrated local challenges in terms of both the limited number of pharmacogenes studied to date and the differences in genetic repertoire between different Pacific regions, as described previously in more detail. 8 These differences have implications for use of pharmacogenomics in treatment of infectious disease, particularly malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.…”

“…Pharmacogenomics implementation in Asia continues, with one important local example being implementation of HLA genotyping to prevent cutaneous adverse reactions linked to anticonvulsants in the regions where HLA-B*15:02 is common. 7 Irinotecan is another interesting example where treatment-related neutropenia is more common in those with certain UGT1A1 genotypes. The global pharmacogenomics article highlights the fact that the allele associated with decreased UGT1A1 activity phenotype (Gilbert's syndrome) is different in Asians (UGT1A1*6) compared with Europeans (UGT1A1*28), but worldwide, the drug label does not mention both alleles, except in Japan and Singapore.…”

“…Latin American populations pose special problems for implementation of pharmacogenomics due to the large degree of population admixture within the various countries. 7 The nature of admixture is such that even guidelines for pharmacogenomics dosing based on "continental ancestry" may not be sufficient to deal with the complexity of population admixture. 11 Admixture is likely to also be increasingly relevant to the United Kingdom and other European countries.…”