Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX) is an efficient chemotherapeutic drug used in the treatment of several disorders in which there is a rapid cellular growth like cancer. MTX and folic acid have a chemically alike structure. MTX shows its chemotherapeutic effects by competing with folic acid in cancerous cells, which results in the reduction of folic acid in cells, and ultimately it causes cell death. But a drawback of MTX is that it causes different side effects by competing with folic acid in normal cells. The action of MTX on folate metabolism involves a complex pattern that includes several metabolizing enzymes and several transporters whose expression and/or function have been suggested to be changed by genetic polymorphisms. The main genes involved in showing important polymorphism are dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), methotrexate polyglutamates (MTX-PG), thymidylate synthase (TS), solute carrier 19A1(SLC19A1), ATP-binding cassette C1 and two transporters (ABCC1, ABCC2), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and many others too.
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Riaz, A., Ghaffar, M., Salahuddin, H. (2020). Pharmacogenomics of Methotrexate-Induced Toxicity in Children. In: Masood, N., Shakil Malik, S. (eds) 'Essentials of Cancer Genomic, Computational Approaches and Precision Medicine. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1067-0_17
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