Pharmacogenetics in Optimising Therapy of Infectious Diseases: Understanding Host Genetic Variants Influencing Drug Metabolism, Immune Response, and Adverse Drug Reactions

Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics are increasingly recognised as playing a pivotal role in the advancement of personalised medicine, especially in the field of infectious diseases. In clinical practice, interindividual variability in drug response, metabolism, and vulnerability to adverse drug responses continues to be an important challenge that frequently requires empirical approaches to treatment. Growing evidence shows that host genetic variants can significantly influence the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antimicrobial agents, as well as the immune response to pathogens and therapeutic interventions.

Despite the body of evidence supporting the clinical use of pharmacogenetic testing has grown consistently the routine use of pharmacogenetic testing in infectious disease management is still limited. Common barriers include the complexity of gene–drug interactions, insufficient representation of diverse populations in genomic studies, and the lack of standardised clinical guidelines. However, genetically guided therapy approaches have a significant potential to increase therapeutic efficacy, minimise toxicity, and reduce the development of antibiotic resistance.

Recent progress in next-generation sequencing technologies, advanced bioinformatics, and integrative multi-omics approaches has significantly enhanced the ability to identify novel genetic markers of clinical relevance and to develop predictive models of drug response. Together, these improvements provide the potential for a more accurate, evidence-based approach to treat infectious disease that can be tailored for the genetic profile of each patient.

Scope and Focus

This issue aims to explore the role of pharmacogenetics in optimising the treatment of infectious diseases, with a focus on:

• Drug metabolism and transport: Genetic variants affecting the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of antimicrobial agents

• Host immune response: Polymorphisms influencing the innate and adaptive immune response to infection and therapy

• Adverse drug reactions: Genetic predisposition to serious drug-related toxicities, including hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and hypersensitivity reactions

We would like to invite authors to submit contributions that explore the following key areas:

• Pharmacogenetic marker discovery and validation: Identification of genetic variants that influence drug efficacy, safety, and metabolism in infectious disease treatment.

• Clinical implementation strategies: Approaches for integrating pharmacogenetic testing into routine infectious disease care, including decision-support tools and clinical workflows.

• Population-specific insights: Evaluation of genetic diversity across populations and its impact on treatment outcomes, with a focus on underrepresented groups.

• Drug response variability: Studies investigating how host genetics affect therapeutic response and adverse drug reactions across different infectious diseases.

• Data integration in clinical practice: Combining pharmacogenetic information with immunological, microbiological, and clinical data to support personalised treatment decisions.

• Advances in technology: The role of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and next-generation sequencing in the development of pharmacogenomic research and its clinical translation.

This Topic invites original research articles, systematic reviews, and perspectives that contribute to a deeper understanding of how host genetics can inform and enhance the therapeutic management of infectious diseases.

Please note: If patient data are analyzed, a comprehensive description of the patients including sex, age, diagnostic criteria, inclusion and exclusion criteria, disease stage, therapy received, comorbidities as well as additional clinical information and assessment of clinical response/effects should be included. If genetic, proteomics, metabolomics, or other omics data are analyzed, a comprehensive description of the methods and the rationale for selecting the specific data studied should be provided. Studies related to natural compounds, herbal extracts, or traditional medicine products, are outside the scope of the Specialty Section Pharmacogenetics & Pharmacogenomics, and should instead be submitted to the specialty section of Ethnopharmacology. Studies solely based on the analysis of public databases or published evidence, with no further experimental insights or insufficient experimental validation, will not be included in this Research Topic.
Articles should fit into the Journal’s mission & scope. Further information on the Journal’s scope can be accessed following the link https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/about

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: pharmacogenetics, infectious diseases, drug metabolism, immune response, adverse drug reactions, personalized medicine

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.