Warfarin and cytochrome P450 2C9 genotype: possible ethnic variation in warfarin sensitivity.

INTRODUCTION: Warfarin is a widely prescribed, efficacious oral anticoagulant. S-warfarin, the more active form, is metabolized by the cytochrome P450 (CYP)2C9 enzyme. The aim was to evaluate the influence of two CYP2C9 functional polymorphisms (*2 and *3) on warfarin dose in African-Americans, an unstudied population and Caucasians, and also to assess the effect of these polymorphisms on anticoagulation response after accounting for nongenetic factors and genetic factors that might also impact the dose-response relationship of warfarin.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort of 362 patients with a target international normalized ratio of between 2.0 and 3.0 were genotyped. Warfarin sensitivity stratified by genotype was investigated using univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS: The maintenance dose of warfarin was significantly related to genotype (p < 0.01) (variant carriers: 31.25 mg/week; wild-type: 37.5 mg/week), even after adjustment for possible confounding factors (p = 0.046). However, the effect of genotype was restricted to Caucasians, in whom variant carriers had a significantly lower maintenance dose compared with wild-type homozygotes (unadjusted: p < 0.01; adjusted: p = 0.02). There was a greater risk of over-anticoagulation among Caucasian variant carriers, although this was only observed prior to reaching maintenance dose. For African-American variant carriers, there was no difference in warfarin response based on CYP2C9 genotype.

DISCUSSION: CYP2C9 *2 and *3 variants provide predictive information in anticoagulation response. However, these variants may not be useful in African-Americans or as a marker of long-term over-anticoagulation once a stable dose is reached.