DNA Drug Sensitivity Testing™ for
Pain Medications

Are you taking or considering medication to treat or prevent pain?

Are you taking additional medications?

Personalized medication mangement including DNA testing is extremely important for the proper management of pain because finding the right drug and dose is so vitally important. This is not surprising to people that study genetics- research shows that of all the clinical factors such as age, sex, weight, general health and liver function that alter a patient's response to drugs, genetic factors account for a significant proportion.

Many common pain medications require activation by an enzyme called CYP2D6 to become effective. Approximately half of patients have genes that alter the function of 2D6. Testing for these gene alterations allows for alteration of dosage regimens to compensate for altered metabolism and optimize the safety and efficacy of the opioid family of analgesics.Without knowing your genetics, your physician may need to go through months of trial-and-error prescribing to find the right drug and dose for you.

Population Frequency of Cytochrome P450 (CYP) Metabolizer Types

	Poor (no or low enzyme levels)	Intermediate (reduced enzyme levels)	Extensive (normal enzyme levels)	Ultra-Extensive (high enzyme levels)
CYP2D6	10%	35%	48%	7%

 

Now your healthcare provider can help optimize your response to pain drugs and many other medications by ordering DNA testing. Your results will be entered into our personalized medication management software, GeneMedRx You or your healthcare providers can log in to see if current or future medications are predicted to cause drug-drug or drug-gene interactions so dosage and selection can be catered to your needs. You receive a 90-day subscription free with your testing; additional one year extensions are available for a nominal fee. Of course, your DNA never changes so the testing only needs to be done once in a lifetime.

Click here to view a list of drugs for which DNA testing may be helpful.

The Testing Process

The process is simple. You can order testing directly if you have a physician prescription or your healthcare provider can request testing for you. We send a cheek swab collection kit with directions by mail. Samples are submitted using the enclosed return mailer and results are provided in ten days or less. Faster testing is available for an additional charge. Call a DNA testing consultant at (800) 523-3080 for details and to order, or request information to you or to your healthcare provider on your behalf, simply complete the request form.

References

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/508543_2

Oesterheld, Jessica, M.D. GeneMedRx Drug Metabolism Tables

Foster A, Mobley E, and Wang Z. Complicated pain management in a CYP450 2D6 poor metabolizer, Pain Pract. 2007 Dec;7(4):352-6.

Gan SH, Ismail R, Wan Adnan WA, Zulmi W. Impact of CYP2D6 genetic polymorphism on tramadol pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, Mol Diagn Ther. 2007;11(3):171-81.

Kirchheiner J, Keulen JT, Bauer S, Roots I, Brockmöller J. Effects of the CYP2D6 gene duplication on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of tramadol, J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2008 Feb;28(1):78-83.

Stamer UM, Stüber F, Muders T, Musshoff F. Respiratory depression with tramadol in a patient with renal impairment and CYP2D6 gene duplication, Anesth Analg. 2008 Sep;107(3):926-9.

Coller JK, Christrup LL, Somogyi AA. Role of active metabolites in the use of opioids, Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2008 Oct 29.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/552096

Cozza KL, Armstrong SC, Oesterheld JR (2003) Drug Interaction principles for Medical Practice. American Psychiatric Publishing Inc

Zhou SF. Polymorphism of human cytochrome P450 2D6 and its clinical significance: Part I. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2009;48(11):689-723

Zanger UM, Raimundo S, Eichelbaum M. Cytochrome P450 2D6: overview and update on pharmacology, genetics, biochemistry. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2004 Jan;369(1):23-37