Urine samples could be used to predict responses to drugs, say researchers

Urine samples could be used to predict responses to drugs, say researchers. Researchers show you can predict drug responses by looking at the products of metabolism in people's urine %0A " - Imperial College London and Pfizer News Release Under STRICT EMBARGO for 15. US Eastern Time / 20. British Summer Time - Monday 10 August 2009 Researchers may be able to predict how people will respond to particular drugs by analysing their urine samples, suggest scientists behind a new study published today in the journal . Not all drugs are effective in all patients and occasionally, susceptible individuals can have adverse reactions to them. In today's study, researchers from Imperial College London and Pfizer Research and Development showed that it was possible to predict how different individuals would deal with one drug by looking at the levels of different products of metabolism, known as metabolites, in their urine before they took a dose of the drug. The researchers say that this kind of 'metabolic profiling' could ultimately be a valuable tool for predicting how different individuals will react to drugs, enabling those developing drugs to match drug treatments to individuals' requirements and avoid adverse side effects.