Evaluation of the association of CES1 (rs2244613) polymorphisms with the safety of remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Introduction. An outbreak of novel COVID-19 infection has become a real challenge for the entire human society, and first of all for the healthcare services. The development of new drugs is a complex and lengthy process. At the beginning of the pandemic, it forced an intensive study of well-known drugs for the therapy. Remdesivir was first investigated as a potential treatment for Ebola virus. After beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in vitro evaluations demonstrated its activity against SARS-CoV-2. Subsequent clinical studies showed the efficacy of remdesivir in shortening the time to recovery.Aim. To evaluate the effect of the carriage of polymorphic alleles of the CES1 gene (A > C, rs2244613) on the safety profile of remdesivir therapy.Materials and methods. A total of 154 patients hospitalized with coronavirus infection were included in the study. All patients received remdesivir as etiotropic therapy in the standard regimen: 200 mg on the first day followed by 100 mg daily for 5-10 days. In the course of observations, clinical and laboratory signs of adverse events were reported. Venous blood samples were collected from each patient for pharmacogenetic studies. Genotyping was performed using the real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. Statistical analysis: вata were analysed by using IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 23.0.Results. There were no significant associations of carriage of various CES1 variants with the frequency of adverse reactions (bradycardia, nausea, vomiting) and laboratory markers of adverse events (ALT, AST, creatinine levels).Conclusion. In our study, no association was found between the carriage of CES1 gene polymorphisms and the safety parameters of remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Further research into the possibilities of personalizing COVID-19 therapy through pharmacogenetic testing is needed.