ABSTRACT
Most responses of higher organisms to exogenous chemicals including drugs are receptor mediated. It follows that information about variant forms of receptor proteins is central to understanding human sensitivity to these substances. Although hereditary changes in drug metabolizing enzymes are foremost historically in the annals of pharmacogenetics, investigators inferred long ago that genetic changes in receptors probably accounted for several disorders of pharmacogenetic interest such as the long QT syndrome, malignant hyperthermia, and insulin resistance.
