backgroundThe management of warfarin therapy is complicated by a wide variation among patients in drug response. Variants in the gene encoding vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 ( VKORC1 ) may affect the response to warfarin. methodsWe conducted a retrospective study of European-American patients receiving long-term warfarin maintenance therapy. Multiple linear-regression analysis was used to determine the effect of VKORC1 haplotypes on the warfarin dose. We determined VKORC1 haplotype frequencies in African-American, European-American, and Asian-American populations and VKORC1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in human liver samples. resultsWe identified 10 common noncoding VKORC1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and inferred five major haplotypes. We identified a low-dose haplotype group (A) and a highdose haplotype group (B). The mean (±SE) maintenance dose of warfarin differed significantly among the three haplotype group combinations, at 2.7±0.2 mg per day for A/A, 4.9±0.2 mg per day for A/B, and 6.2±0.3 mg per day for B/B (P<0.001). VKORC1 haplotype groups A and B explained approximately 25 percent of the variance in dose. Asian Americans had a higher proportion of group A haplotypes and African Americans a higher proportion of group B haplotypes. VKORC1 mRNA levels varied according to the haplotype combination. conclusions VKORC1 haplotypes can be used to stratify patients into low-, intermediate-, and highdose warfarin groups and may explain differences in dose requirements among patients of different ancestries. The molecular mechanism of this warfarin dose response appears to be regulated at the transcriptional level. abstract The New England Journal of Medicine Downloaded from nejm.org at UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA on November 4, 2014. For personal use only. No other uses without permission.

Summary of RecommendationsNote on Shaded Text: Throughout this guideline, shading is used within the summary of recommendations sections to indicate recommendations that are newly added or have been changed since the publication of Antithrombotic and Thrombolytic Therapy: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (8th Edition). Recommendations that remain unchanged are not shaded. Abbreviations: APLA 5 antiphospholipid antibody; aPPT 5 activated partial thromboplastin time; HIT 5 heparin-induced thrombocytopenia; INR 5 international normalized ratio; LMWH 5 low-molecular-weight heparin; NNT 5 number needed to treat; PE 5 pulmonary embolism; RR 5 risk ratio; UFH 5 unfractionated heparin

The burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease and efforts to control infection will determine the future size of the population requiring treatment of HBV infection. To quantify the current prevalence of HBV infection and to reexamine the epidemiology of HBV infection, a structured review was conducted that focused on available primary literature for over 30 countries worldwide. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection continues to be highly variable, ranging over 10% in some Asian and Western Pacific countries to under 0.5% in the United States and northern European countries. The current global estimate of the number of HBV infected individuals is 350 million. Routes of transmission include vertical (mother to child or generation to generation through close contact and sanitary habits), early life horizontal transmission (through bites, lesions, and sanitary habits), and adult horizontal transmission (through sexual contact, intravenous drug use, and medical procedure exposure) and are evident to varying degrees in every country. Younger age at acquisition of infection continues to be the most important predictor of chronic carriage. However, the choice of serologic markers, temporal influences, and representativeness of the study population limit comparability of HBV seroprevalence results. HBV vaccination programs will decrease the future global burden of HBV infection and evidence of reduced burden is mounting in country-specific populations, but vaccination programs have still not been implemented in all countries, thereby maintaining reservoirs of infection and continued HBV transmission. Regardless of vaccination, large numbers of persons are infected with HBV or will become infected. Preventing the most severe HBV disease consequences in infected individuals, such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, will require appropriate therapeutic agents.

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Warfarin dosing is correlated with polymorphisms in vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 (VKORC1) and the cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) genes. Recently, the FDA revised warfarin labeling to raise physician awareness about these genetic effects. Randomized clinical trials are underway to test genetically based dosing algorithms. It is thus important to determine whether common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in other gene(s) have a large effect on warfarin dosing. A retrospective genome-wide association study was designed to identify polymorphisms that could explain a large fraction of the dose variance. White patients from an index warfarin population (n ‫؍‬ 181) and 2 independent replication patient populations (n ‫؍‬ 374) were studied. From the approximately 550 000 polymorphisms tested, the most significant independent effect was associated with VKORC1 polymorphisms (P ‫؍‬ 6.2 ؋ 10 ؊13 ) in the index patients. CYP2C9 (rs1057910 CYP2C9*3) and rs4917639) was associated with dose at moderate significance levels (P ϳ 10 ؊4 ). Replication polymorphisms (355 SNPs) from the index study did not show any significant effects in the replication patient sets. We conclude that common SNPs with large effects on warfarin dose are unlikely to be discovered outside of the CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genes. Randomized clinical trials that account for these 2 genes should therefore produce results that are definitive and broadly applicable. IntroductionThe determination of safe yet effective doses of warfarin for individual patients is one of the most promising clinical applications of pharmacogenetics. [1][2][3] There are large variation in warfarin dose from patient to patient and significant clinical consequences of doses that produce insufficient or excessive pharmacologic effects. Thus, reducing uncertainty in establishing the therapeutic dose in individual patients could improve quality of care as well as expand the range of patients who could be treated. 4 In white patients, genetic factors are more strongly correlated with stabilized warfarin dose than all other known patient-related factors. Warfarin pharmacokinetics are affected by functional polymorphisms (*2, Arg144Cys; *3, Ile359Leu) in cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9). 5,6 In addition, warfarin's effects are modulated by polymorphisms (eg, Ϫ1639, rs9923231) in the vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 (VKORC1) enzyme, a critical component of the vitamin K cycle discovered in part because of its contribution to bleeding disorders and warfarin resistance. 7,8 Both VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms independently correlate with warfarin dose 9,10 and other clinical outcomes such as time to stabilized dose, bleeding events, and time within the target therapeutic range. [11][12][13] Combined polymorphisms in VKORC1 and CYP2C9 explain approximately 30% (20%-25% for VKORC1; 5%-10% for CYP2C9) of the variance in the stabilized warfarin dose distribution. 10,14,15 The importance of these strong genetic effects was recognized by recent relabeling of warfarin by the FDA to raise awar...

Our results suggest that drug therapy based on individuals' genetic makeups may result in a clinically important reduction in adverse outcomes. Our findings serve as a foundation for further research on how pharmacogenomics can reduce the incidence of adverse reactions and on the resulting clinical, societal, and economic implications.

Aims Stakeholder engagement is fundamental to comparative effectiveness research (CER), but lacks consistent terminology. This paper aims to define stakeholder engagement and present a conceptual model for involving stakeholders in CER. Materials & methods The definitions and model were developed from a literature search, expert input and experience with the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Cancer Genomics, a proof-of-concept platform for stakeholder involvement in priority setting and CER study design. Results Definitions for stakeholder and stakeholder engagement reflect the target constituencies and their role in CER. The ‘analytic-deliberative’ conceptual model for stakeholder engagement illustrates the inputs, methods and outputs relevant to CER. The model differentiates methods at each stage of the project; depicts the relationship between components; and identifies outcome measures for evaluation of the process. Conclusion While the definitions and model require testing before being broadly adopted, they are an important foundational step and will be useful for investigators, funders and stakeholder groups interested in contributing to CER.

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