Clinical relevance of pharmacoepigenetics

Abstract

Epigenetics - defined as the inheritable changes that are not accompanied by alterations in DNA sequence - is a rapidly growing field and its research is being proposed for implementation into the clinical setting. Indeed, advances in epigenetics and epigenomics (which focuses on the analysis of epigenetic changes across the entire genome) can be applied in pharmacology. Specifically, its application has given rise to a new specialty called pharmacoepigenetics, which studies the epigenetic basis for the variation between individuals in their drug response. Pharmacoepigenetics can become one of the tools for the personalised medicine approach, with potentially safer treatments and less side-effects on the horizon.