Thiopurines for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Role of Pharmacogenetics

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the use of thiopurines for inflammatory bowel disease. Pharmacogenetic insights suggest that the genetic profile of thiopurine S-methyltransferase and inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase may affect the clinical response to thiopurines. This is a review on the pharmacogenetics of these enzymes and highlights difficulties that impede priorto-treat pharmacogenetic testing for the thiopurines in practice.