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Letter To Editor

Multigenic traits and risk assessment in pharmacology: a population approach

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 1, pages 234–235 (2001)Cite this article

This comment was inspired by the paper of Nebert and Menon, entitled ‘Pharmacogenomics, ethnicity, and susceptibility genes’.1

Nebert and Menon introduce their paper by writing: ‘Pharmacogenetic differences can be 10- to more than 40-fold between individuals within an ‘ethnic’ group, while the mean variation between ethnic groups is rarely more than 2- to 3-fold.’ This is a crucial argument in their review which is repeated three times. They call this observation the hallmark of complex or multifactorial traits, although it is also valid when there are cases of monogenically controlled drug response.

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Figure 1

References

  1. Nebert DW, Menon AG . The Pharmacogenomics Journal 2001 1: 19–22

  2. Kalow W, Bertilsson L . Advanc Drug Res 1994 23: 1–53

  3. Kalow W . Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000 125: 77–80

  4. Kalow W . Drug Metab Disp 2001 29: 468–470

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Laszlo Endrenyi for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    W Kalow, V Ozdemir & L Tothfalusi

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  1. W Kalow
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  2. V Ozdemir
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  3. L Tothfalusi
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Correspondence to W Kalow.

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Kalow, W., Ozdemir, V. & Tothfalusi, L. Multigenic traits and risk assessment in pharmacology: a population approach. Pharmacogenomics J 1, 234–235 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500061

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500061

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