Genetic analysis of pharmacogenomic VIP variants in the Wa population from Yunnan Province of China.

Background: The variation of drug responses and target does among individuals is mostly determined by genes. With the development of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics, the differences in drug response between different races seem to be mainly caused by the genetic diversity of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics genes. Very important pharmacogenetic (VIP) variants mean that genes or variants play important and vital roles in drug response, which have been listed in pharmacogenomics databases, such as Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base (PharmGKB). The information of Chinese ethnic minorities such as the Wa ethnic group is scarce. This study aimed to uncover the significantly different loci in the Wa population in Yunnan Province of China from the perspective of pharmacogenomics, to provide a theoretical basis for the future medication guidance, and to ultimately achieve the best treatment in the future.

Results: In this study, we recruited 200 unrelated healthy Wa adults from the Yunnan province of China, selected 52 VIP variants from the PharmGKB for genotyping. We also compared the genotype frequency and allele distribution of VIP variants between Wa population and the other 26 populations from the 1000 Genomes Project ( http://www.1000Genomes.org/ ). Next, χ test was used to determine the significant points between these populations. The study results showed that compared with the other 26 population groups, five variants rs776746 (CYP3A5), rs4291 (ACE), rs3093105 (CYP4F2), rs1051298 (SLC19A1), and rs1065852 (CYP2D6) had higher frequencies in the Wa population. The genotype frequencies rs4291-TA, rs3093105-CA, rs1051298-AG and rs1065852-GA were higher than those of the other populations, and the allele distributions of rs4291-T and rs3093105-C were significantly different. Additionally, the difference between the Wa ethnic group and East Asian populations, such as CDX, CHB, and CHS, was the smallest.

Conclusions: Our research results show that there is a significant difference in the distribution of VIP variants between the Wa ethnic group and the other 26 populations. The study results will have an effect on supplementing the pharmacogenomics information for the Wa population and providing a theoretical basis for individualised medication for the Wa population.