Genetics and tailored therapy in cardiovascular disease

Excerpt

Can we today apply genetics to individual patients and tailor therapy based on genetic profile to improve pharmacodynamics and kinetics [1]? This is an interesting question especially for the treatment of hypertension as substantial heterogeneity in efficacy exists in response to drug therapy. Individualised medicine may guide physicians in their choice instead of the old-fashioned trial-and-error strategy to find the perfect cocktail of antihypertensive drugs. In addition, tailored therapy may lead to fewer adverse drug reactions and eventually to a lower burden on health care costs [2]. Although the department of cardiology of the University Medical Center Utrecht is committed to the integration of genetics into clinical medicine, we do not determine a genetic profile in patients on a routine basis [3]. Especially not before prescribing a drug in the clinic or in the outpatient department. But maybe it is time to change our attitude and integrate genetics into daily clinical practice. Nowadays it is technically feasible to determine several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 1 hour at relatively low costs in the outpatient office without the need for specialised laboratory facilities [4, 5]. …