Gene-Based Medicine A Mixed Blessing

Controls were a sample of 723 postmenopausal women without MI who were matched to cases by age, calendar year, and hypertension status. The main outcome measure was risk of hrst nonfatal MI based on current use of HRT and the presence or absence of coagulation factor V Leiden and prothrombin 20210 G A variants among cases and controls, stratihed by hypertension. 

In the study populations, 108 MI cases and 387 controls had hypertension. Among women with hypertension, the prothrombin variant was a risk factor for MI (odds ratio 4.32). Compared with nonusers of HRT with wild-type genotype, women who were current users and who had the prothrombin variant had a nearly 11-fold increase in risk of a nonfatal MI. The interaction was absent among normo-tensive women. No interaction was found for factor V Leiden in either hypertensive or normotensive women. 

The authors suggest that if their findings are confirmed, screening for the prothrombin 20210 G A variant may permit a better assessment of the risks and benefits associated with HRT in postmenopausal women. It is important to note, however, that the prothrombin variant would account for only part of the pattern of early harm and late benefit seen in the HERS trials [18]. 

The head of genetics at Glaxo said They can go screw with someone else s drugs [The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, 18 June 2001]. GlaxoSmithKline is not opposed to all such tests. The company plans to use them to identify patients likely to suffer serious side effects from certain drugs and exclude them from clinical trials. 

Sickle cell anemia -VMD2 Best disease 

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INDIVIDUALIZED GENE-BASED MEDICINE A MIXED BLESSING... 

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