Clinical pharmacy consultation for pharmacogenetic testing

摘要

The clinical application of pharmacogenetic testing will help to bring personalized medicine into clinical practice. Due to the complex process involved in delivering pharmacogenetic testing, optimal clinical implementation of pharmacogenetic tests will require the coordinated effort of multiple disciplines including medicine, clinical laboratory medicine and clinical pharmacy. This will help to bridge the gap between the basic and laboratory science, and the clinical application of these results. How may clinical pharmacy contribute to the clinical application of pharmacogenetic testing as a member of a multidisciplinary team? In this perspective, we propose a potential new role for pharmacists: as an interpreter of pharmacogenetic test results. Interpreting the results of pharmacogenetic tests, particularly, those intended to guide drug dosing, requires an understanding of pharmacogenetics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Pharmacists who are knowledgeable in these areas may play an important role in interpretation of the test results.