Pharmacogenomics of multiple sclerosis: in search for a personalized therapy

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that affects young adults and provokes severe disability, imposing a high health and social burden. Current therapies for MS include interferon-beta, glatiramer acetate, natalizumab and chemotherapy. These therapies decrease the number of relapses and partially prevent disability accumulation. However, their efficacy is only moderate, they have common adverse effects and impose a high cost to health systems. The identification of biomarkers will allow responders and non-responders to therapy to be identified, increasing the efficacy and adherence to therapy, and the pharmaco-economic profile of theses drugs. OBJECTIVES AND CONCLUSION: In this review we examine the pharmacogenetic studies that have evaluated the clinical response to interferon-beta, and to a lesser extent, glatiramer acetate and natalizumab. Finally, we discuss how systems biology can be used to integrate biological and clinical data in order to develop personalized medicine for MS.