P3 - Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacogenomics

Each person shares 99.9% of their DNA with other humans. It is the 0.1% that makes us unique.

Pharmacogenetics or pharmacogenomics focuses on the 0.1% and studies interindividual variations in DNA - that code for proteins - that play a role in the pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic characteristics of medications.

Our inherited pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic tendencies determine our response to drugs.

Pharmacokinetics encompasses what the body does to the drug - that is how medications are absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the body.

Pharmacodynamics involves what the drug does to the body - through interactions with drug targets, drug receptors, drug transporters etc.

Both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are critical to determining how medications produce their therapeutic effects or benefits.

While patient specific characteristics such as age, sex, weight, or other clinical parameters contribute to variations in medication response - a significant amount of variation may be attributed to inherited genetic differences.

Pharmacists are utilizing pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics to identify genetic variations or polymorphisms, interpret their clinical utility and predict response to specific medications.