Cardiovascular pharmacogenomics: clinical applications in Latin America

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol using populationwide strategies. Various factors help the ocurrence of cardiovascular diseases. There are notmodifiable factors such as genetic inheritance and other modifiable such as smoking, alcohol intake, diet and physical activity risk factors. The overall level of risk of an individual is the one that determines the probability of cardiovascular, such as acute myocardial infarction, stroke, among others. On the other hand, a number of medications, including including: antiarrhythmics, anticoagulants, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers, digitalis, diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) are the pharmacotherapeutic arsenal available. The drug of choice by the doctor will be according to the characteristics of each patient and considering the recommendation of clinical guidelines. Nowadays, the relationship between adverse reactions of drugs and genetically determined variations is a main focus of interest. Thus, pharmacogenomic studies are required, specially in Latin American countries, where the ethnic profile of response in not well understood. The present chapter describes progress in understanding genomic variability in response to commonly used cardiovascular drugs.