Integrating Pharmacogenetics In Clinical Care

This study will determine whether using a genetic test (for the SLCO1B1 gene) can help patients and providers choose the right type and dose of cholesterol-lowering statin medications to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, while minimizing the muscle pain side effects that sometimes occur with statins.

Variants at rs4149056 in the SLCO1B1 gene are associated with a greater risk of simvastatin-related myopathy. Despite the growing implementation of SLCO1B1 rs4149056 genotyping in health systems across the United States, there is little randomized controlled trial data on the impact of SLCO1B1 testing on clinical outcomes. The IPICC Study will use a randomized design to determine the impact of the clinical integration of SLCO1B1 genotype testing on important patient outcomes, including statin prescribing, LDL cholesterol, and statin-related myopathy. In addition, by enrolling statin-naive patients with a recent cholesterol panel, this trial will capture a moment of clinical decision-making when SLCO1B1 rs4149056 genotype might be most clinically relevant. This randomized-control trial has two primary aims: Aim 1 (Drug safety): To determine the impact of SLCO1B1 pharmacogenetic testing on concordance with Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) pharmacogenetic guidelines for safe simvastatin prescribing and on the incidence of statin-related myopathy in VA (drug safety). Aim 2 (Cardiovascular disease, CVD, prevention): To determine the impact of SLCO1B1 pharmacogenetic testing on LDL cholesterol levels and concordance with CVD prevention guidelines. The I-PICC Study is enrolling 408 statin-naive primary care and women's health patients across the Veteran Affairs Boston Healthcare System. Eligible patients are aged 40-75 and have elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines. Primary care providers (PCPs) are also research subjects and consent via electronic health record (EHR) alerts. To model pharmacogenotyping at the point of care, the investigators are enrolling patients with recent cholesterol results when their PCPs order laboratory testing, indicating a moment of clinical decision-making about CVD risk. Enrolled patients are randomized to have their PCPs receive results through the EHR immediately (PGx+) vs. after 1 year (PGx-). The investigators will query clinical and pharmacy data for 1-year outcomes: myopathy and concordance with CPIC simvastatin guidelines (drug safety) and cholesterol levels and concordance with ACC/AHA guidelines (CVD risk reduction).