Prevalence of pharmacogenomic variants in 100 pharmacogenes among Southeast Asian populations under the collaboration of the Southeast Asian Pharmacogenomics Research Network (SEAPharm)

Pharmacogenomics can enhance the outcome of treatment by adopting pharmacogenomic testing to maximize drug efficacy and lower the risk of serious adverse events. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a cost-effective technology for genotyping several pharmacogenomic loci at once, thereby increasing publicly available data. A panel of 100 pharmacogenes among Southeast Asian (SEA) populations was resequenced using the NGS platform under the collaboration of the Southeast Asian Pharmacogenomics Research Network (SEAPharm). Here, we present the frequencies of pharmacogenomic variants and the comparison of these pharmacogenomic variants among different SEA populations and other populations used as controls. We investigated the different types of pharmacogenomic variants, especially those that may have a functional impact. Our results provide substantial genetic variations at 100 pharmacogenomic loci among SEA populations that may contribute to interpopulation variability in drug response phenotypes. Correspondingly, this study provides basic information for further pharmacogenomic investigations in SEA populations.