Objectives: The study was aimed at establishing an effective molecular-genetic method for detecting polymorphisms in genes CYP2C9 and VKORC1, which affect the pharmacogenetics of warfarin, and at determining their prevalence in Slovak population.
Background: Warfarin, derivative of coumarin, belongs to the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulants with narrow therapeutic index. An insufficient dose of warfarin can result in failure to produce the antithrombotic effect, whereas an overdose increases the risk of bleeding. It was proven that genetic variability in two genes, CYP2C9 a VKORC1, has a significant influence on the individual's response to the dosage of warfarin.
Methods: In a control group of 112 randomly selected individuals, we tested the frequency of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms including CYP2C9*2 (430C>T), CYP2C9*3 (1075A>C), VKORC1*2 (1173C>T) by allele-specific Real-Time PCR and VKORC1*2 (-1639G>A) by using PCR-RFLP.
Results: Due to the combination of frequent alleles CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3 and VKORC1*2 in Slovak population we determine that 25% of population need a standard 5-mg daily dose of warfarin, while 44%, 23%, and 8% need 4 mg, 3 mg and 2 mg of warfarin per day.
Conclusion: Slovak population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and frequencies of SNPs were in accordance with other published results in European populations (Tab. 5. Fig. 3, Ref. 51).