Pharmacogenetics of osteoporosis: what is the evidence?

The early genetic prediction of personal drug therapy outcome, both in terms of identification of poor responders or nonresponders, as well as of subjects at risk of developing adverse reactions, and its translation into the clinical practice are the main challenges of personalized medicine. The application of pharmacogenetic predictive tests will be very useful mostly in cases of chronic disorders, as in metabolic bone diseases, that require long-term treatments and for whom exist effective differently acting drugs to be alternatively chosen. Pharmacogenetic tests, prior to drug administration, would hypothetically grant the optimization of drug therapy, based on patient's genotype, to ensure maximum efficacy with minimal adverse effects. This review aims to offer an overview on the principal findings in the field of pharmacogenetics of osteoporosis, and it will discuss future perspectives and possible clinical applications of pharmacogenetic tests for antiresorptive drugs.