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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1432906
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Pharmacogenomics: Basic, Translational, and Clinical View all 6 articles
Advancing Pharmacogenomic Research in US Hmong Populations: Prevalence of Key Single Nucleotide Variations in California Hmong
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
- 2 University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, United States
- 3 Minnesota Community Care, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
- 4 Hmong Youth and Parents United, Sacramentao, California, United States
- 5 The Fresno Center, Fresno, California, United States
In collaboration with the Minnesota Hmong community, we have previously discovered significant differences in allele frequencies for key Single Nucleotide Variations (SNVs) within Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIPs) between Hmong and East Asians. Recognizing the potential clinical implications of these observed differences, we sought to validate these observations in a Hmong cohort residing in California, the state with the largest Hmong population in the US. Robust validation of these differences would affect motivation for clinicians treating individuals who identify as Hmong to consider pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing as a means to improve clinical decision making when using therapeutic agents in this unique population.Method: Guided by California Hmong community leaders and utilizing the basic approach of community-based participatory research, demographic, clinical information and a buccal swab was obtained from Hmong adults residing in California. A commercial PGx testing panel was performed on these samples and specific allele frequencies of interest were compared between California and Minnesota Hmong. Allele frequency differences between California Hmong, East Asians and Europeans, were also compared. Return-of-PGx-results and presentations of group data were made to members of the Hmong along with PGx educational sessions to help interpret the observations.In 118 California Hmong who completed the study, the allele frequencies for SNV's were similar to previous Minnesota Hmong results. Furthermore, out of the 18 SNVs that were not previously reported in Hmong, allele frequencies were statistically different in 38% (7/18) of SNVs comparing California Hmong to East Asians, and in 77.8% (14/18) SNVs comparing California Hmong to Europeans.These results validate the original study's findings that Hmong people living in different US locations have similar allele frequencies for key PGx genes. Further, for many of these PGx genes, their allele frequencies are significantly different compared to either East Asians or Europeans. Clinicians should consider these important differences when prescribing medications for people who identify as Hmong.
Keywords: Pharmacogenetics, precision medicine, Gene Frequency, Asian Americans, Hmong, Minority Health
Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 04 Sep 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Sun, Thao, Culhane-Pera, Yang, Thor, Vang, Xiong, Vang and Straka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Robert J. Straka, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
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