Outcomes of methotrexate therapy for psoriasis and relationship to genetic polymorphisms

BACKGROUND The use of methotrexate is limited by interindividual variability in response. Previous studies in patients with either rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis suggest that genetic variation across the methotrexate metabolic pathway might enable prediction of both efficacy and toxicity of the drug. OBJECTIVES To assess if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across four genes that are relevant to methotrexate metabolism [folypolyglutamate synthase (FPGS), gamma-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase (ATIC)] are related to treatment outcomes in patients with psoriasis. METHODS DNA was collected from 374 patients with psoriasis who had been treated with methotrexate. Data were available on individual outcomes to therapy, namely efficacy and toxicity. Haplotype-tagging SNPs (r(2) > 0.8) for the four genes with a minor allele frequency of > 5% were selected from the HAPMAP phase II data. Genotyping was undertaken using the MassARRAY spectrometric method (Sequenom). RESULTS There were no significant associations detected between clinical outcomes in patients with psoriasis treated with methotrexate and SNPs in the four genes investigated. CONCLUSIONS Genetic variation in four key genes relevant to the intracellular metabolism of methotrexate does not appear to predict response to methotrexate therapy in patients with psoriasis.