Polymorphisms of the TPMT Gene in the Czech Healthy Population and Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Genetic variation in thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) is a major factors for wide variation in the metabolism and safety of thiopurine drugs. We investigated the frequency of functional gene polymorphisms in 396 patients with inflammatory bowel disease and 300 healthy subjects. Frequencies of functionally deficient alleles TPMT∗2, TPMT∗3A, TPMT∗3B, and TPMT∗3B in the patient group were 0.1%, 4.3%, 0.1%, and 0.4%, respectively, and were similar to those of healthy subjects in the Czech population. Our results provide necessary information for pharmacoeconomic studies in the Czech Republic.

Keywords:

• Thiopurine S-methyltransferase
• polymorphism
• azathioprine
• pharmacogenetics

This research was supported by grants No: IGA MZ ČR NR9094, MSM021620849, and MSM 0021620806.