Pharmacogenomics of Asthma

Patient response to asthma therapy is consistently observed to be heterogeneous. Pharmacogenomics is the study of inherited differences in interindividual drug disposition and effects, with the goal of selecting the optimal drug therapy and dosage for each patient. This review will cover selected examples of gene polymorphisms that influence the outcome of asthma therapy, and whole-genome expression studies using microarray technology that have shown tremendous potential for benefiting asthma pharmacogenomics. The utility of the mouse as an experimental system for pharmacogenomic discovery will also be discussed in the context of asthma therapy.