Clopidogrel is a commonly prescribed medication used to prevent further heart attacks after an initial event. It needs to be activated in the body to be effective. Studies of European populations show that 30% of individuals have genetic variants that reduce or prevent activation through the production of an enzyme called CYP2C19.
with their long-term health records. They found that 57% of participants have the common genetic change that means they cannot activate clopidogrel. More than 2 in 3 British South Asians in the Genes & Health cohort who have had a heart attack received clopidogrel.
Dr. Emma Magavern, lead author and clinical doctor and researcher at Queen Mary University of London, said,"Clopidogrel has been shown to prevent heart attacks mainly in people of European ancestry. For the first time we show that genetic variants that render clopidogrel ineffective are present at much higher rates in British people of Bangladeshi and Pakistani ancestry and are linked with higher risk of having another heart attack in people prescribed clopidogrel.