Pharmacogenetics: an Emerging Therapeutic Option for Bangladesh

Abstract

From socioeconomic point of view adverse drug reactions (ADRs) present a challenging and
expensive public health problem worldwide. Most important factors involved in this life threatening events are
false diagnosis, failure of treatment, lack of proper patient counseling, lack of knowledge regarding medication use
and polypharmacy. Pharmacogenetic research explores genetic variability between patients to explain observed
differences in effectiveness of a drug therapy as well as adverse event profile. Thus, pharmacogenetic testings
could help to prevent treatment failure and adverse drug reaction in patients. It also allows the detection and
prediction of ADRs and is a tool that can reduce the risks associated with ADRs. In this particular review we will
discuss how genetic variation can influence drug response and how personalized medicine can be achieved as well
as some recent pharmacogenetic works carried out in Bangladesh. The aim of this review is to increase awareness
of the physicians and other health care practitioners and professionals about the variation of drug response due to
genetic variation. This review can help the physicians to identify genetic factors associated with ADRs with all
drugs and effectively incorporate pharmacogenetics into the practice of pharmacovigilance.