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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2006;295:2240.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Because patients have variable responses to drugs due to individual differences in genetic makeup and environmental factors such as intestinal flora and diet, being able to predict a person's response to a medication would be useful and sometimes lifesaving. Now, scientists from England, Sweden, France, and the United States report that studies in animals suggest that a urine test might help physicians to fine-tune drug prescribing by showing how well an individual's body metabolizes the compound (Clayton TA et al. Nature. 2006;440:1073-1077).

Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the researchers analyzed metabolites in urine samples of 65 rats taken before and after the animals were given a high dose of acetaminophen and found that certain metabolic signatures can be used to predict the severity of liver damage that the animals developed. The proof-of-principle study suggests that the approach might provide a noninvasive method to help determine which . . . [Full Text of this Article]