Pharmacogenomics in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

This study will make use of a large population of well defined patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension who were enrolled in Encysive Pharmaceutical's STRIDE clinical trials or who have received bosentan or ambrisentan for 4 months or longer. This international study constitutes the largest clinical study of this deadly disease and in such has great potential to alter the clinical practice by revealing novel gene-drug interactions. This study tests the hypothesis by executing the following aims: Aim 1: Determine in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (the relationship between known disease-specific polymorphisms (Serotonin transporter gene and PAI HindIII) and variants in BMPR2 and SMAD4 with several well-defined clinical efficacy endpoints of sitaxsentan, bosentan, and ambrisentan therapy. Aim 2: Determine in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension the relationship between existing potentially "therapy-specific" polymorphisms in the ET-1, ETAR, ETBR, NPR-C, prostacyclin receptor and prostacyclin synthase with several well-defined clinical efficacy endpoints of sitaxsentan, bosentan, and ambrisentan therapy. Aim 3: Characterize the relationship between any treatment effect, these polymorphisms and PAH severity, using either clinical data or clinical surrogates for disease activity. \*\*\*This study was funded by the NIH from 2005 - 2009. In August 2009 a no-cost extension was granted and this study continued until the end of July 2010. Currently the study is still active and does still have several active sites participating; however, the study is funded by the internal institution and there is no contributing federal funding.\*\*\*