Opioid analgesics are the standards of care for the treatment of moderate to severe nociceptive pain, particularly in the setting of cancer and surgery. Their analgesic properties mainly emanate from stimulation of the μ receptors, which are encoded by the OPRM1 gene. Hepatic metabolism represents the major route of elimination, which, for some opioids, namely codeine and tramadol, is necessary for their bioactivation into more potent analgesics. The highly polymorphic nature of the genes coding for phase I and phase II enzymes (pharmacokinetics genes) that are involved in the metabolism and bioactivation of opioids suggests a potential interindividual variation in their disposition and, most likely, response. In fact, such an association has been substantiated in several pharmacokinetic studies described in this review, in which drug exposure and/or metabolism differed significantly based on the presence of polymorphisms in these pharmacokinetics genes. Furthermore, in some studies, the observed variability in drug exposure translated into differences in the incidence of opioid-related adverse effects, particularly nausea, vomiting, constipation, and respiratory depression. Although the influence of polymorphisms in pharmacokinetics genes, as well as pharmacodynamics genes (OPRM1 and COMT) on response to opioids has been a subject of intense research, the results have been somehow conflicting, with some evidence insinuating for a potential role for OPRM1. The Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelines provide CYP2D6-guided therapeutic recommendations to individualize treatment with tramadol and codeine. However, implementation guidelines for other opioids, which are more commonly used in real-world settings for pain management, are currently lacking. Hence, further studies are warranted to bridge this gap in our knowledge base and ultimately ascertain the role of pharmacogenetic markers as predictors of response to opioid analgesics.

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Review of Opioid Pharmacogenetics and Considerations for Pain Management

Codeine is used to relieve mild to moderately severe pain, and it belongs to the drug class of opioid analgesics.The hepatic CYP2D6 enzyme metabolizes a quarter of all prescribed drugs, including codeine. CYP2D6 converts codeine in to its active metabolite, morphine, which provides its analgesic effect. However, pain relief may be inadequate in individuals who carry two inactive copies of CYP2D6 (“poor metabolizers”), because of reduced morphine levels.In contrast, individuals who carry more than two normal function copies of the CYP2D6 gene (“ultrarapid metabolizers”) are able to metabolize codeine to morphine more rapidly and more completely. As a result, even with normal doses of codeine, these individuals may experience the symptoms of morphine overdose, which include extreme sleepiness, confusion, and shallow breathing. Nursing mothers may also produce breast milk containing higher than expected levels of morphine that can lead to severe adverse events in their infants (1).The FDA drug label for codeine states that even at labeled dosage regimens, individuals who are ultra-rapid metabolizers may have life-threatening or fatal respiratory depression or experience signs of overdose. The label also contains a boxed warning, which states that respiratory depression and death have occurred in children who received codeine following tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy and had evidence of being ultra-rapid metabolizers of codeine due to a CYP2D6 polymorphism (1).The Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) recommends that for a patient identified as a CYP2D6 ultrarapid metabolizer, another analgesic should be used to avoid the risk of severe toxicity with a “normal” dose of codeine. CPIC also recommends avoiding codeine in patients identified as CYP2D6 poor metabolizers due to the possibility of lack of effect (see Table 1) (2).

Codeine Therapy and CYP2D6 Genotype

Most of the prescribing and dispensing of medicines happens in primary care. Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is the study and clinical application of the role of genetic variation on drug response. Mounting evidence suggests PGx can improve the safety and/or efficacy of several medications commonly prescribed in primary care. However, implementation of PGx has generally been limited to a relatively few academic hospital centres, with little adoption in primary care. Despite this, many primary healthcare providers are optimistic about the role of PGx in their future practice. The increasing prevalence of direct-to-consumer genetic testing and primary care PGx studies herald the plausible gradual introduction of PGx into primary care and highlight the changes needed for optimal translation. In this article, the potential utility of PGx in primary care will be explored and on-going barriers to implementation discussed. The evidence base of several drug-gene pairs relevant to primary care will be outlined with a focus on antidepressants, codeine and tramadol, statins, clopidogrel, warfarin, metoprolol and allopurinol. This review is intended to provide both a general introduction to PGx with a more in-depth overview of elements relevant to primary care.

/pdf/pharmacogenomics-for-primary-care-an-overview-2pns30lqc6.pdf

Pharmacogenomics for Primary Care: An Overview

Pharmacogenomics in Pain Management

Advances in the field of pharmacogenomics have resulted in the discovery of some important single-nucleotide polymorphisms which are found to be associated with opioid dose variability. This, to a large extent, explains genetic variability in the analgesic dose of opioids. These polymorphisms are found in various areas relevant to pain perception, including the nociceptive and antinociceptive pathways, drug receptors, drug-metabolising enzymes and drug efflux molecules. An in-depth knowledge of single-nucleotide polymorphisms can help clinicians to address interindividual variability in opioid dosing and requirements. In the era of precision medicine, these genetic markers can also help us to design prognostic tools to accurately predict the analgesic dose of opioids.

Pharmacogenetics of opioids: a narrative review

The objective of this study was to examine interindividual variability in codeine requirements and pain management by examining select genetic polymorphisms in the codeine pharmacological pathway. The study included a nested cohort of 98 women who were prescribed codeine following cesarean section. Participants were genotyped for select polymorphisms of the COMT, ABCB1, CYP2D6, UGT2B7 and OPRM1 genes and instructed to describe their level of pain using the visual analog scale (mm) 1 h following each dose of codeine. Analysis revealed that reported pain increases with maternal age (P=0.041). Asians required more codeine than Caucasians (P=0.048). Significant differences in mean dose consumption were seen among the genotypic groups of the OPRM1 A118G (P=0.001) and UGT2B7 C802T (P=0.015) variants. These variants were found to predict codeine consumption in the cohort overall (P=0.000) and among Caucasians (P=0.001). These findings will assist in customizing therapy to effectively manage postpartum pain.

M Baber

Papers

The pharmacogenetics of codeine pain relief in the postpartum period.