Hypertension pharmacogenomics: in search of personalized treatment approaches

Cardiovascular and renal diseases are associated with many risk factors, of which hypertension is one of the most prevalent. Worldwide, blood pressure control is only achieved in similar to 50% of those treated for hypertension, despite the availability of a considerable number of antihypertensive drugs from different pharmacological classes. Although many reasons exist for poor blood pressure control, a likely contributor is the inability to predict to which antihypertensive drug an individual is most likely to respond. Hypertension pharmacogenomics and other `omics' technologies have the potential to identify genetic signals that are predictive of response or adverse outcome to particular drugs, and guide selection of hypertension treatment for a given individual. Continued research in this field will enhance our understanding of how to maximally deploy the various antihypertensive drug classes to optimize blood pressure response at the individual level. This Review summarizes the available literature on the most convincing genetic signals associated with antihypertensive drug responses and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Future research in this area will be facilitated by enhancing collaboration between research groups through consortia such as the International Consortium for Antihypertensives Pharmacogenomics Studies, with the goal of translating replicated findings into clinical implementation.