Biologist probe genes’ link to TB treatment
Filipino molecular biologists at the country’s largest pharmaceutical and healthcare company United Laboratories, Inc (Unilab) studied the genetic variations in a human body called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that could determine the body’s response to TB treatment.
According to government data, TB is the sixth leading cause of death nationwide. This translates to 80 Filipinos dying from the disease daily, with two-thirds of the more than 85 million population harboring TB bacili and about 463,000 are active TB cases. These figures put RP at ninth rank in TB incidence worldwide.
The Unilab research team studied SNPs from blood obtained from healthy Filipino volunteers. Further study into these SNPs revealed that 47.3 percent of Filipinos are rapid acetylators, meaning their body can quickly break down an anti_TB drug like isoniazid, and thus have low risk to the toxic effects of the drugs.
The 11.6 percent are slow acetylators, which means anti-TB drugs like isoniazid stay longer in the patients’ blood, whichmay put them at a greater risk to the toxic effects of the drug.
“We plan to do more clinic studies on the remaining 41.1 percent of subjects who were found to be of the intermediate acetylator type.” Said Unilab medical director Alexander Tuazon. “Doing so will determine and verify the risk to isoniazid-induced liver toxicity.”
Unilab’s study provides better understanding of the link between the genetic variation of Filipino patients and TB drugs like isoniazid, and thus provides doctors with substancial information to more effectively determine the appropriate treatment to patients.
The company is doing other of human gens’ link to other diseases as part of its efforts to make healthcare products even better for Filipinos.
Source: Manila Bulletin