How genetics may affect the metabolism of an immune suppression drug

Azathioprine is a drug given to patients after an organ transplant. The drug helps your body adjust to the new organ. It works by reducing the immune system’s reaction. It can also treat other immune conditions, like lupus, long-term muscle inflammation, or inflammatory bowel disease. For some people, the drug has some bad side effects. These include low number of white blood cells, skin reactions, and an inflamed pancreas. Side effects can happen when your body doesn’t metabolize, or process, the drug like it should. Scientists think that side effects are due to changes in certain metabolism genes. Researchers at Vanderbilt will use BioVU to look for people who took azathioprine. They will look for certain gene changes in the ones that had bad side effects. They hope to link specific gene changes to these side effects. The results of this study will help us learn who can take azathioprine and who might have bad side effects. Doctors can test for gene changes before you get the drug. If you have gene changes linked to side effects, you can get a different drug. The new drug will still help you. But, you won’t get the bad side effects.