Effect of ABCB1 gene variants on rivaroxaban pharmacokinetic and hemorrhage events occurring in patients with non‐valvular atrial fibrillation

Abstract Hemorrhage events occur most frequently in anticoagulant therapy for non‐valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Rivaroxaban is used widely for routine anticoagulation care. Genetic polymorphisms are thought to contribute to the wide intraindividual variability seen in rivaroxaban metabolism and the anticoagulant response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drug transport related single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on rivaroxaban metabolism and on the risk of a hemorrhage event. A total of 216 Chinese patients with NVAF were enrolled in the study. Rivaroxaban was used for anticoagulation therapy. Rivaroxaban plasma concentrations were detected using a validated ultra‐performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS) method. Seven SNPs in four genes were genotyped using the Sanger dideoxy DNA sequencing method. Associations between genotype variants, the incidence of hemorrhage events, and the time of bleeding were analyzed. ABCB1 2677G (rs2032582) variation was highly associated with the dose‐adjusted rivaroxaban peak concentration in plasma (C max /D) (p = 0.025, FDR = 0.042). The ABCB1 G allele carriers had a higher rivaroxaban C max /D than non‐carriers. Logistic regression showed that rivaroxaban C max /D and ABCB1 genotype variants were associated with a higher incidence of hemorrhage events. No statistically significant difference was found between ABCB1 genotypes and the time of bleeding after anticoagulant therapy in 30 days. These results indicated that ABCB1 2677G (rs2032582) genetic variant affects the rivaroxaban C max /Dose and the incidence of hemorrhage events significantly.