The influence of the CYP2D6*4 polymorphism on drug response and disease susceptibility

Abstract

This thesis is about the role of CYP2D6, a drug-metabolizing enzyme, in today’s pharmacotherapy. Cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) is an important member of a large family of enzymes with the name cytochrome P450 which is abundantly present in most non-monocellular living organisms. Its history probably goes back for millions of years, when animals developed detoxifying enzymes as a defence mechanism against plant stress metabolites. Evolutionary pressure led to more and more diversity in these P450 genes. Nowadays, this genetic variation in CYP2D6 plays an important role in explaining variability in drug response. In this introduction, the variability in drug response will be discussed, followed by genetic variation, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, the cytochrome P450 enzyme family, the possible infl uence of CYP2D6 on drug response and adverse reactions to drugs, disease susceptibility, and aims and scope of this thesis