In findings published in Nature Biotechnology (May 2006, vol. 24 No. 5), Roche scientists present a new method for analyzing the metabolism of a commonly prescribed drug.
Use of this mouse genetic analysis method may lead to a better understanding of how drugs are metabolized, which could facilitate more effective individualization of drug selection and dosing regimens in humans.
This research, which is partially funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant (1 R01 GM068885-01A1) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, utilized a computational method for mouse genetic analysis to identify factors that regulate the metabolism of warfarin, a widely used anticoagulant. The scientists discovered that this computational method can quickly identify genetic variants within drug metabolizing enzymes that contribute to different drug responses in mice and provides valuable information about genes that are likely to play a role in human drug metabolism. Therefore, the methodology could be applied to a wide range of medications and help Roche, as well as others, better understand drug metabolism, and subsequently drug toxicity. Steve Shafer, Stanford University Department of Anesthesia, was also an author on the study.