Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.1.1.67 (thiopurine methyltransferase)
 551 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The cytotoxic activity of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) is affected by thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT), a genetically regulated and variable intracellular enzyme. 6-Thioguanine (6-TG), a closely related thiopurine, is less affected by that enzyme and so it may be a more reliable drug-at least for patients with constitutionally high TPMT activity. We attempted to assess its suitability as an alternative by comparing the pharmacokinetics of both drugs in a small group of children with lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Patients were included who were in their second or subsequent remission, who would otherwise have received 6-MP, and on whom pharmacokinetic data concerning 6-MP metabolism had been collected in a previous remission. Plasma 6-TG concentrations were assayed following an oral dose of 40 mg m-2, and the accumulation and fluctuation of intracellular (erythrocyte, RBC) 6-TG nucleotides (6-TGNs) were measured at regular intervals during daily oral therapy. Seven children were studied. Plasma 6-TG concentrations were low and cleared within 6 h of oral dosing. At 7 days, 6-TGN concentrations ranged from 959 to 2361 pmol 8 x 10(-8) RBCs, in all cases significantly higher (P = 0.002) than those produced by the same patients on 6-MP. After a total therapy time of 35 patient months, a modest rise of alanine aminotransferase was seen on one occasion, otherwise no toxicity apart from myelosuppression was encountered. In the context used, 6-TG appears well tolerated and produces higher concentrations of intracellular cytotoxic metabolites than 6-MP. For children constitutionally 'resistant' to the traditional drug, if not all, it may be a preferable alternative.
Br J Cancer 1993 Jul
PMID:Is 6-thioguanine more appropriate than 6-mercaptopurine for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia? 831 12

Pharmacogenetics has emerged as a novel and challenging area of interest in oncology. Cancer chemotherapy is characterized by major intersubject variability in tumor responses and host toxicity. This variation may be caused by genetic differences in the enzymes involved in the metabolism of anticancer agents. Anticancer agents, such as 6-mercaptopurine, 5-fluorouracil, and irinotecan, have a narrow therapeutic index that can sometimes result in severe life-threatening toxicities. The impact of polymorphisms in metabolizing enzymes (thiopurine S-methyltransferase, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase) that participate significantly in the disposition of these anticancer agents is discussed.
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PMID:Inherited variations in drug-metabolizing enzymes: significance in clinical oncology. 1067 43

The genetic polymorphism of thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) has had a highly significant clinical impact due to its association with individual variation in the toxicity and therapeutic efficiency of thiopurine drugs, which are pharmaceutical agents widely used in the treatment of several kinds of diseases. Until now, ten mutant alleles responsible for TPMT deficiency and several silent and intronic mutations have been described. In this work we present an alternative molecular method for the detection of TPMT alleles. It is an adaptation for horizontal conditions of a conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis technique. The method has proven to be very efficient as a rapid screening approach for the study of TPMT genetic variability. The method was applied to analyse eight TPMT exons and the corresponding flanking intronic regions in a sample of unrelated healthy individuals from North Portugal. Here we report the allelic frequencies concerning TPMT-deficient alleles and several silent and intronic mutations, including two newly detected intronic polymorphisms: an A (-101) T substitution in intron 3 and a variation involving the number of T nucleotides in a DNA stretch in intron 5. Additionally, we also present data from a sample of 43 children undergoing therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In this clinical sample we have registered a statistically significant higher frequency for the TPMT*3C allele. This finding raises the question whether the TPMT genotype can contribute to any genetic predisposition for development of the malignancy.
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PMID:Screening of thiopurine S-methyltransferase mutations by horizontal conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis. 1067 40

This article reviews the clinical relevance of pharmacogenetics in cancer chemotherapy, with emphasis on drugs for which genetic differences in enzyme metabolism have been demonstrated to affect patient outcome. About 10% of children with leukaemia are intolerant to mercaptopurine (6-mercaptopurine) because of genetic defects in mercaptopurine inactivation by thiopurine S-methyltransferase. However, mercaptopurine dose intensity, a critical factor for outcome in patients deficient in thiopurine S-methyltransferase, can be maintained by means of thiopurine S-methyltransferase phenotyping or genotyping. Patients with reduced fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil) catabolism are more likely to be exposed to severe toxicity. The measurement of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase activity in patients cannot be considered fully predictive, and the role of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene variants in this syndrome has yet to be clarified. With regard to irinotecan, patients with Gilbert's syndrome phenotype have reduced inactivation of the active topoisomerase I inhibitor 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) caused by a mutation in the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 gene promoter. This subset of patients is more likely to be exposed to irinotecan toxicity and could be identified by genotyping for gene promoter variants. Finally, the experience with amonafide represents a model for dose individualization approaches that use simple phenotypic probes.
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PMID:Pharmacogenetics: a tool for individualizing antineoplastic therapy. 1110 31

6-Mercaptopurine and its prodrug counterpart, azathioprine, have proven efficacy in the induction and maintenance of remission, fistula closure, and steroid sparing in patients with Crohn's disease. Long-term follow-up has demonstrated the safety of the purine analogues, with no increased risk of malignancy. For patients with Crohn's disease intolerant or unresponsive to azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate has emerged as an effective alternative. In patients with severe ulcerative colitis, intravenous cyclosporine is highly efficacious in the short term, and with the addition of azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine to oral cyclosporine, long-term remission rates of 60% to 70% can be achieved. Azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine therapy is effective in patients with steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory colitis and is valuable in maintaining remission. Neither methotrexate nor cyclosporine has been shown to be effective for maintenance therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis. Current data are insufficient to recommend routine use of genetic or enzymatic testing of thiopurine methyltransferase or measurements of blood 6-thioguanine metabolites to guide 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine dosing.
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PMID:Immunomodulator Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 1146 77

Thiopurine methyltransferase catalyzes the S-methylation of azathioprine (AZA), 6-mercapto-purine (6-MP) and thioguanine, medications widely used to treat malignancies, rheumatic diseases, dermatologic conditions, inflammatory bowel disease and solid organ transplant rejection. TPMT activity exhibits a genetic polymorphism in 10% of Caucasians, with 1/300 individuals having complete deficiency. Patients with intermediate or deficient TPMT activity are at risk for excessive toxicity, including fatal myelosuppression, after receiving standard doses of thiopurine medications. The molecular basis for low TPMT activity has been elucidated, leading to the development of assays for the three signature mutations, which account for the majority of mutant alleles. TPMT genotype is correlated with erythrocyte and leukemia blast cell TPMT activity and associated with a risk of toxicity after thiopurine therapy. Recent studies defined target starting doses for mercaptopurine based on TPMT genotypes. This polymorphism is one of the best models for the translation of genomic information to guide patient therapeutics.
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PMID:The thiopurine S-methyltransferase gene locus -- implications for clinical pharmacogenomics. 1196 6

Interindividual variability in the efficacy and toxicity of drug therapy is associated with polymorphisms in genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes, transporters, or drug targets. Pharmacogenetics aims to identify individuals predisposed to high risk of toxicity from conventional doses of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. We review the role of genetic polymorphisms in UGT1A1 and TPMT, as well as mutations in DPD, in influencing drug disposition and toxicity. Recent studies show that pharmacogenetic determinants may also influence treatment outcomes. We discuss the clinical significance of polymorphisms in TS, MTHFR, and FCGR3A, as well as the polymorphic DNA repair genes XPD and XRCC1, in influencing response to chemotherapy and survival outcomes. Finally, the potential implications of transporter pharmacogenetics in influencing drug bioavailability are addressed.
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PMID:Pharmacogenetics in cancer treatment. 1252 81

Dose adjustment of drug administration for each patient has been performed based on counts of some factors such as body surface area, age of the patient, performance status, renal and/or liver function. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses have been investigated by measuring the plasma concentration of a drug and observing the drug effects. However, prior to drug administration it is difficult to predict unexpected, severe drug toxicity, which depends on the individual differences among patients. Recent progress in human genome analysis has been providing tools for new approaches to disease treatment based on individual differences using genetic information. This review focuses on the drug metabolizing enzyme and its genetic polymorphisms in cancer chemotherapy. We describe the recent findings on pharmacogenomics between toxicity and the genetic polymorphisms of the thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) gene, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) gene, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT1A1 and UGT1A7) gene. We need to accumulate clinical data based on the variation of genetic profiling as well as pharmacogenetic information. Such data will help tailor cancer chemotherapy to an individual's predisposition in the near future.
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PMID:[Pharmacogenomic approaches for prevention of drug toxicity in cancer chemotherapy]. 1266 88

The purine analogues 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and azathioprine have been found to be safe and efficacious in both inducing remission of Crohn's disease in adults and maintaining remission in adults and children. In addition, steroid-sparing effects are demonstrable in trials of both adults and children with Crohn's disease. Anecdotal reports of adults and very limited data from children also suggest that azathioprine and 6-MP might help prevent postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease. Regarding safety, adults and children reported similar rates of adverse effects from the use of these agents: reported adverse effects in adults included significant infection (7.4%), pancreatitis (3.3%), neoplasm (3.1%), bone marrow suppression (2.0%), allergy (2.0%), and drug-induced hepatitis (0.3%). Most studies also suggest there is little, if any, probability that immunomodulatory therapy might increase the risk of malignancy in patients with Crohn's disease. Data are too limited to guide clinical decisions on how long immunomodulatory therapy should be continued, whether it is safe to take azathioprine and 6-MP during pregnancy, and whether men can take these agents at the time of conception. Although 6-MP and azathioprine have been used safely for over 30 years, the recent commercial availability of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) genotype/phenotype testing and 6-MP metabolite testing offers the promise of limiting potential toxicity even more. As a result, these agents will continue to play a central therapeutic role for all clinicians caring for children or adults with Crohn's disease.
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PMID:Therapeutic efficacy and safety of 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine in patients with Crohn's disease. 1268 86

There is great heterogeneity in a patient's response to medications, often requiring empirical strategies to define the appropriate drug therapy for each patient. Pharmacogenomics aims to elucidate further the inherited nature of interindividual differences in drug disposition and effects, with the ultimate goal of providing a stronger scientific basis for selecting the optimal drug therapy and dosage for each patient. These genetic insights should also lead to mechanism-based approaches to the discovery and development of new medications. Genetic polymorphisms in drug metabolizing enzymes, transporters, receptors, and other drug targets have been linked to interindividual differences in the efficacy and toxicity of many medications. For example, polymorphism in thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) results in altered degradation of the commonly prescribed agent 6-mercaptopurine. This genetic variant has significant clinical implications because patients with functionally relevant homozygous mutations in the TPMT gene experience extreme or fatal toxicity after administration of normal doses of 6-MP. In addition, patients heterozygous for mutations in TPMT require slight dosage reduction of 6-MP and experience a greater degree of systemic toxicity from the agent. This and other examples of genetic polymorphism relevant to the treatment of cancer are highlighted to illustrate the promise and pitfalls of the exciting area of cancer therapeutics, with the potential of providing a stronger scientific basis to optimize drug therapy on the basis of each patient's genetic constitution.
Cancer Invest 2003
PMID:Cancer pharmacogenomics: SNPs, chips, and the individual patient. 1453 51


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