Abstract
Maximizing the efficacy of IBD-directed therapies while minimizing their toxicity remains the principal objective in developing management strategies for IBD patients. Pharmacogenetics of Thiopurine S-methyltransferase has helped clinicians achieve these objectives targeted at patients receiving either 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) or azathioprine, both members of the thiopurine family. This drug-metabolizing enzyme influences the concentration of thiopurine reaching its target (pharmacokinetics). Currently, most IBD patients are treated as if they are homogenous. However patients would certainly benefit from being stratified into those that will or will not have a benefit from a therapy and further divided into those that will or will not have a toxic response to a therapy. The recognition and understanding of the factors influencing therapeutic response have the potential to allow clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry the ability to individualize dosing and administration regimens to maximize benefit and avoid toxicity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
US Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administratio. Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research & Center for Devices and Radiological Health; 2003. www.fda.org.
Remy CN. Metabolism of thiopyrimidines and thiopurines. S-Methylation with S-adenosylmethionine transmethylase and catabolism in mammalian tissues. J Biol Chem. 1963;238:1078–84.
Lennard L. The clinical pharmacology of 6-Mercaptopurine. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1992;43:329–339.
Lennard L, Van Loon JA, Weinshilboum RM. Pharmacogenetics of acute azathioprine toxicity: relationship to thiopurine methyltransferase genetic polymorphism. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1989;46:149–154.
Evans WE, Horner M, Chu YQ, Kalwinsky D, Roberts WM. Altered mercaptopurine metabolism, toxic effects, and dosage requirement in a thiopurine methyltransferase-deficient child with acute lymphocytic leukemia. J Pediatr. 1991;119:985–9.
Lennard L, Van Loon JA, Lilleyman JS, Weinshilboum RM. Thiopurine pharmacogenetics in leukemia: correlation of erythrocyte thiopurine methyltransferase activity and 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentrations. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1987;41:18–25.
Weinshilboum RM, Sladek SL. Mercaptopurine Pharmacogenetics: Monogenic.inheritance of erythrocyte thiopurine methyltransferase activity. Am J Human Genet. 1980;32:651–62.
Van Loon JA, Weinshilboum RM. Thiopurine methyltransferase biochemical genetics: human lymphocyte activity. Biochem Genet. 1982;20:637–58.
Woodson LC, Dunnette JH, Weinshilboum RM. Pharmacogenetics of human thiopurine methyltransferase: kidney-erythrocyte correlation and immunotitration studies. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1982;222:174–81.
Szumlanski CL, Honchel R, Scott MC, Weinshilboum RM. Human liver thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: biochemical properties, liver-erythrocyte correlation and presence of isozymes. Pharmacogenetics. 1992;2:148–59.
Coulthard SA, Howell C, Robson J, Hall AG. The relationship between thiopurine methyltransferase activity and genotype in blasts from patients with acute leukemia. Blood. 1998;92:2856–62.
Honchel R, Aksoy I, Szumlanski C, Wood TC, Otterness DM, Wieben ED, et al. Human thiopurine methyltransferase: molecular cloning and expression of T84 colon carcinoma cell cDNA. Mol Pharmacol. 1993;43:878–87.
Szumlanski C, Otterness D, Her C, Lee D, Brandriff B, Kelsell D, et al. Thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: human gene cloning and characterization of a common polymorphism. DNA Cell Biol. 1996;15:17–30.
Tai H-L, Krynetski EY, Yates CR, Loennechen T, Fessing MY, Krynetskaia NF, et al. Thiopurine S-methyltransferase deficiency: two nucleotide transitions define the most prevalent mutant allele associated with loss of catalytic activity in Caucasians. Am J Hum Genet. 1996;58:694–702.
Salavaggione OE, Wang L, Wiepert M, Yee VC, Weinshilboum RM. Pharmacogenetics Thiopurine S-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: variant allele functional and comparative genomics. Genomics. 2005;15:801–15.
Hon YY, Fessing MY, Pui CH, Relling MV, Krynetski EY, Evans WE. Polymorphism of the thiopurine S-methyltransferase gene in African-Americans. Hum Mol Genet. 1999;8:371–6.
Lee FJ, Kalow W. Thiopurine S methyltransferase activity in a Chinese population. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1993;54:28–33.
Lennard L, Lilleyman JS, Van Loon J, Weinshilboum RM. Genetic variation in response to 6-mercaptopurine for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Lancet. 1990;336:225–9.
Tai H-L, Fessing MY, Bonten EJ, Yanishevsky Y, d’Azzo A, Krynetski EY, et al. Enhanced proteasomal degradation of mutant human thiopurine S-methyltransferase TPMT) in mammalian cells: mechanism for TPMT protein deficiency inherited by TPMT*2, TPMT*3A, TPMT*3B or TPMT*3C. Pharmacogenetics. 1999;9:641–50.
Wang L, Sullivan W, Toft D, Weinshilboum R. Thiopurine S-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: chaperone protein association and allozyme degradation. Pharmacogenetics. 2003;13:555–64.
Tiede I, Fritz G, Strand S, Poppe D, Dvorsky R, Strand D, et al. CD28-dependent Rac1 activation is the molecular target of azathioprine in primary human CD4+ T lymphocytes. J Clin Invest. 2003;111:1133–45.
Neurath MF, Kiesslich R, Teichgraber U, Fischer C, Hofmann U, Eichelbaum M, et al. 6-thioguanosine diphosphate and triphosphate levels in red blood cells and response to azathioprine therapy in Crohn’s disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2005;3:1007–14.
Dubinsky MC, Lamothe S, Yang HY, Targan SR, Sinnett D, Theoret Y, et al. Pharmacogenomics and metabolite measurement for 6-mercaptopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology. 2000;118:705–7.
Szumlanski CL, Weinshilboum RM. Sulphasalazine inhibition of thiopurine methyltransferase: possible mechanism for interaction with 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1995;39:456–9.
Lewis LD, Benin A, Szumlanski CL, Otterness DM, Lennard L, Weinshilboum RM, et al. Olsalazine and 6-mercaptopurine-related bone marrow suppression: a possible drug-drug interaction. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1997;62:464–75.
Dewitt O, Vanheuverzwyn R, Desager JP, Horsmans Y. Interaction between azathioprine and aminosalicylates: an in vivo study in patients with Crohn’s disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2002;16:79–85.
Colombel JF, Ferrari N, Debuysere H, Marteau P, Gendre JP, Bonaz B, et al. Genotypic analysis of thiopurine S-methyltransferase in patients with Crohn’s disease and severe myelosuppression during azathioprine therapy. Gastroenterology. 2000;118:1025–30.
Regueiro M, Mardini H. Determination of thiopurine methyltransferase genotype or phenotype optimizes initial dosing of azathioprine for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2002;35:240–4.
Campbell S, Kingstone K, Ghosh S. Relevance of thiopurine methyltransferase activity in inflammatory bowel disease patients maintained on low dose azathioprine. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2002;16:389–98.
Dubinsky MC, Hassard PV, Seidman EG, Kam LY, Abreu MT, Targan SR, et al. Preliminary evidence suggests that 6-MP metabolite profiles provide a biochemical explanation for 6-MP resistance in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology. 2002;122:904–15.
Cuffari C, Théorêt Y, Latour S, Seidman EG. 6-mercaptopurine metabolism in Crohn’s disease: correlation with efficacy and toxicity. Gut. 1996;39:401–6.
Cuffari C, Hunt S, Bayless T. Utilization of erythrocyte 6-thioguanine metabolite levels to optimise azathioprine therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. 2001;48:642–6.
Osterman MT, Kundu R, Lichtenstein GR, Lewis JD. Association of 6-thioguanine nucleotide levels and inflammatory bowel disease activity: a meta-analysis. Gastroenterology. 2006;130:47–53.
Weinshilboum R. Inheritance and drug response. New Engl J Med. 2003;348:529–37.
Weinshilboum R, Wang L. Pharmacogenomics: bench to bedside. Nat Rev Drug Disc. 2004;3:739–48.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dubinsky, M.C. (2013). Pharmacogenetics in IBD. In: Mamula, P., Markowitz, J., Baldassano, R. (eds) Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5061-0_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5061-0_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5060-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5061-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)