RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Genetic Variation in β-Adrenergic Receptors and Their Relationship to Susceptibility for Asthma and Therapeutic Response JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 557 OP 561 VO 29 IS 4 A1 Robert P. Erickson A1 Penelope E. Graves YR 2001 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/29/4/557.abstract AB Our early work focused on quantitative variation in traits related to β-adrenergic signaling: lymphocyte levels of cAMP and the binding properties of the β-adrenergic receptor. We confirmed the work of others that the major histocompatibility locus had an effect on cAMP levels in mice and in man. The latter result was presumably due to the influence of β-adrenergic receptors, since it was the isoproterenol-stimulated lymphocyte cAMP level that was studied. We went on to directly study β-adrenergic receptor levels in mouse hepatic plasma membranes using dihydroalprenolol binding. We discovered a strain variation, apparently controlled by a single locus, which determined a magnesium influence on measurable levels of dihydroalprenolol binding. More recently, our group's work has focused on the human single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human β2-adrenergic receptor. We found that variation at amino acid position 16 had a very marked effect on the response of subjects to albuterol. Similar trends were observed for asthmatic and nonasthmatic children, and the results were independent of baseline lung function. Our results, and those of other groups relating SNPs in the β-adrenergic receptor to a number of responses, mostly related to asthma, are reviewed in this article. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics