Pharmacogenetics of cutaneous flushing response to niacin/laropiprant combination in Hong Kong Chinese patients with dyslipidemia

Aim: Cutaneous flushing with niacin varies between individuals and is substantially reduced by concomitant laropiprant. We investigated associations between baseline phenotypes and selected genotypes and flushing symptoms with niacin/laropiprant combination. Patients & methods: Flushing symptoms were quantified in 196 Chinese dyslipidaemic patients treated with niacin/laropiprant, and associations with phenotypes and selected polymorphisms were analyzed. Results: Moderate or severe flushing was associated with lower body mass index and the rs2279238 polymorphism in the LXRα on multivariate regression analysis and these factors accounted for 18.9% of the total variance. Conclusion: Lower body mass index and the LXRα polymorphism appear to be associated with flushing symptoms with niacin/laropiprant. Whether these findings can be applicable to other niacin formulations without laropiprant needs to be verified.