Acenocoumarol sensitivity and pharmacokinetic characterization of CYP2C9 *5/*8,*8/*11,*9/*11 and VKORC1*2 in black African healthy Beninese subjects

Effects of rare CYP2C9 alleles on stable warfarin doses in Chinese Han patients with atrial fibrillation

Aim: Gene polymorphisms are critical in warfarin dosing variation. Here, the role of rare CYP2C9 alleles on warfarin doses in Chinese Han patients was investigated. Methods: A retrospective study recruited 681 warfarin treated atrial fibrillation patients. The genetic and clinical data were collected. Dose-related variables were selected by univariate analyses and the warfarin-dosing algorithm was derived by multivariate regression analysis. Results: Three rare CYP2C9 alleles (CYP2C9*13, *16 and *60) were associated with lower stable doses. Inclusion of the rare CYP2C9 alleles in the prediction model added an extra 3.7% warfarin dose predictive power. Conclusion: CYP2C9*13, *16 and *60 was associated with lower stable warfarin doses in Chinese patients. The algorithm including rare CYP2C9 alleles tends to more accurately predict stable warfarin doses.

Low-frequency variants at the CYP2C9 locus among Puerto Rican patients on warfarin: in silico predictions of functionality and conservation

Aim: Perform in silico predictions of functional consequences of CYP2C9 variants identified by next-generation sequencing in Puerto Ricans. Methods: Identified low-frequency CYP2C9 variants (minor allele frequencies <2%) were evaluated using the Combined Annotation-Dependent Depletion (CADD v1.3) tools and molecular modeling/docking analysis to predict impact on CYP2C9 activity. Results: CYP2C9*5,*8,*9,*11,*12,*21 and a novel *61 induce conformational changes that affect the binding site of S-warfarin. Most of these deleterious variants occur at higher frequency among individuals with large African ancestry. Conclusion: The unfavorable distance of S-warfarin from heme group, and low-binding interactions due to these CYP2C9 variants, suggest major complications during warfarin therapy. This study contributes to the field by predicting functional alterations of rare CYP2C9 variants for the first time in Hispanics.

Pharmacogenomics of warfarin in populations of African descent

Warfarin is the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulant worldwide despite its narrow therapeutic index and the notorious inter- and intra-individual variability in dose required for the target clinical effect. Pharmacogenetic polymorphisms are major determinants of warfarin pharmacokinetic and dynamics and included in several warfarin dosing algorithms. This review focuses on warfarin pharmacogenomics in sub-Saharan peoples, African Americans and admixed Brazilians. These 'Black' populations differ in several aspects, notably their extent of recent admixture with Europeans, a factor which impacts on the frequency distribution of pharmacogenomic polymorphisms relevant to warfarin dose requirement for the target clinical effect. Whereas a small number of polymorphisms in VKORC1 (3673G > A, rs9923231), CYP2C9 (alleles *2 and *3, rs1799853 and rs1057910, respectively) and arguably CYP4F2 (rs2108622), may capture most of the pharmacogenomic influence on warfarin dose variance in White populations, additional polymorphisms in these, and in other, genes (e.g. CALU rs339097) increase the predictive power of pharmacogenetic warfarin dosing algorithms in the Black populations examined. A personalized strategy for initiation of warfarin therapy, allowing for improved safety and cost-effectiveness for populations of African descent must take into account their pharmacogenomic diversity, as well as socio-economical, cultural and medical factors. Accounting for this heterogeneity in algorithms that are 'friendly' enough to be adopted by warfarin prescribers worldwide requires gathering information from trials at different population levels, but demands also a critical appraisal of racial/ethnic labels that are commonly used in the clinical pharmacology literature but do not accurately reflect genetic ancestry and population diversity.