ABSTRACT
Many examples of genetically controlled variations in drug response have been described in both laboratory animals and humans. There probably exist other, as yet undiscovered, genetically determined differences in drug response. Recently the pace of discovery has accelerated, due to introduction and widespread use of convenient rapid, highly sensitive H.P.L.C. methods to measure the principal metabolites of numerous drugs. Pharmacogenetic conditions are traditionally divided into those that affect the kinetic properties of a drug and those that influence its dynamic properties. The term pharmacogenetics is usually restricted to conditions involving a protein that functions directly, rather than indirectly, in drug response. The principles that underlie pharmacogenetics have evolved over the past 20 years for drugs and apply as well to environmental chemicals.
