Pharmacodynamic genome-wide association study identifies new responsive loci for glucocorticoid intervention in asthma

Pharmacogenomics J. 2015 Oct;15(5):422-9. doi: 10.1038/tpj.2014.83. Epub 2015 Jan 20.

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that has a high prevalence. The therapeutic intervention of this disease can be made more effective if genetic variability in patients' response to medications is implemented. However, a clear picture of the genetic architecture of asthma intervention response remains elusive. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify drug response-associated genes for asthma, in which 909 622 SNPs were genotyped for 120 randomized participants who inhaled multiple doses of glucocorticoids. By integrating pharmacodynamic properties of drug reactions, we implemented a mechanistic model to analyze the GWAS data, enhancing the scope of inference about the genetic architecture of asthma intervention. Our pharmacodynamic model observed associations of genome-wide significance between dose-dependent response to inhaled glucocorticoids (measured as %FEV1) and five loci (P=5.315 × 10(-7) to 3.924 × 10(-9)), many of which map to metabolic genes related to lung function and asthma risk. All significant SNPs detected indicate a recessive effect, at which the homozygotes for the mutant alleles drive variability in %FEV1. Significant associations were well replicated in three additional independent GWAS studies. Pooled together over these three trials, two SNPs, chr6 rs6924808 and chr11 rs1353649, display an increased significance level (P=6.661 × 10(-16) and 5.670 × 10(-11)). Our study reveals a general picture of pharmacogenomic control for asthma intervention. The results obtained help to tailor an optimal dose for individual patients to treat asthma based on their genetic makeup.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asthma / drug therapy
  • Asthma / genetics*
  • Asthma / pathology
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genome-Wide Association Study*
  • Genotype
  • Glucocorticoids / administration & dosage*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pharmacogenetics
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*

Substances

  • Glucocorticoids