Agreement between Coaguchek XS and STA-R Evolution (Hepato Quick) INR results depends on the level of INR.

INTRODUCTION: Introducing point-of-care (POC) INR measurement to monitor anticoagulant therapy may be beneficial for both patients and anticoagulation clinics. However, agreement between POC and laboratory INR results is still unclear, especially at sub- and supratherapeutic levels. Therefore we investigated the analytical and clinical agreement between POC INR results of the Coaguchek XS and laboratory INR results of the STA-R Evolution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Paired POC and laboratory INR results were obtained and analyzed in 3257 patients aged 18-104 years between August 2008 and March 2014. RESULTS: Mean difference between POC and laboratory results ranged from -0.18 (95%CI -0.20;-0.16) INR point for POC results 2.0-3.0, up to 1.14 (95%CI 0.87;1.42) INR point for POC results 7.1-8.0. In the therapeutic range (POC INR 2.0-4.0), mean difference between POC and laboratory results was -0.13 (95%CI -0.15;-0.12) INR point. At subtherapeutic (POC INR <2.0) and supratherapeutic (POC INR >4.0) INR levels, mean differences were -0.13 (95%CI -0.15;-0.11) and 0.72 (95%CI 0.63;0.80) INR point, respectively. Clinical agreement regarding therapeutic range was present in 92.0% (POC within range), 67.7% (POC below range) and 87.6% (POC above range) of the paired measurements. We observed ≥15% INR difference between the POC and laboratory result in 14.8% (POC INR 2.0-4.0), 17.0% (POC INR<2.0) and 47.8% (POC INR >4.0) of the paired measurements. CONCLUSIONS: POC and laboratory INR results were strongly correlated within the therapeutic range and differences between results become larger with increasing INR. Clinical disagreement between laboratory and POC results occurs often at both sub- and supratherapeutic INR levels.

Overanticoagulation is associated with renal function decline.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that overanticoagulation impairs renal function in patients on warfarin therapy, due to renal tubular obstruction from glomerular hemorrhage. METHODS: Data from the Rotterdam Study (The Netherlands), a prospective population-based cohort study of patients 55 years and older, were used for this study. Information on vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy was obtained from the regional anticoagulation clinic, where prothrombin times were monitored every 1-6 weeks depending on target level and stability of the international normalized ratio (INR). Linear regression was performed to study the association between the cumulative number of instances of overanticoagulation (defined as a measurement of an INR >6.0) and the change in renal function between baseline and third examination round based on estimated glomerular filtration rate (CKD-EPI equation). Age, sex, baseline renal function, baseline and incident heart failure, and indication for VKA therapy were included as potential confounders. RESULTS: Information was available for analysis on 2,802 study participants in whom overanticoagulation was significantly associated with a decline in renal function, after adjustment for confounding by age, sex, heart failure, baseline glomerular filtration rate and indication for VKA therapy (-0.180 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year per event for INR >6.0, p = 0.030). CONCLUSIONS: Overanticoagulation (INR >6.0) is associated with a decline in renal function. Further studies are needed to evaluate the causal role of different degrees of overanticoagulation, including transient effects, in high-risk groups, and the association with the new oral anticoagulants.

Evaluation of the effect of genetic variations in GATA-4 on the phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol maintenance dose.

AIM: To investigate whether the phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol maintenance doses are influenced by genetic variations in GATA-4, a transcription factor of CYP2C9. PATIENTS & METHODS: The influence of seven GATA-4 SNPs on the coumarin maintenance dose was investigated by performing an analysis of variance trend analysis, stratified for CYP2C9 genotypes. Results of the best-explaining SNP were validated in the Rotterdam Study cohort. RESULTS: The largest dose differences were found for rs3735814 in patients using acenocoumarol and having the common allele for CYP2C9. The mean dosages decreased from 2.92 mg/day for the patients having the GATA-4 common alleles to 2.65 mg/day for the patients carrying one GATA-4 variant allele and to 2.37 mg/day for patients carrying two GATA-4 variant alleles (p = 0.004). Results could not be replicated in the validation cohort. For phenprocoumon, no significant effects were observed. CONCLUSION: Genetic variation in GATA-4 does not seem relevant for clinical implementation.

Validation of the acenocoumarol EU-PACT algorithms: similar performance in the Rotterdam Study cohort as in the original study.

AIM: To evaluate the performance of the European Pharmacogenetics of Anticoagulant Therapy (EU-PACT) acenocoumarol dose algorithms in an independent data set. The EU-PACT trial investigates the added value of pretreatment genotyping for use of warfarin, phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol. PATIENTS & METHODS: External validation was performed in the Rotterdam Study cohort using information about 707 acenocoumarol users. R(2), which measures the strength of correlation between the predicted and observed acenocoumarol dose, mean absolute error and mean squared error were calculated to evaluate the performance of the original algorithm. RESULTS: Validation resulted in a R(2) of 52.7 and 12.9% compared with an R(2) of 52.6 and 17.8% in the original study for the genotype-guided and nongenotype-guided dose algorithm, respectively. For the genotype-guided dose algorithm, the mean absolute error was 0.48 mg/day and the mean squared error was 0.38 (mg/day)(2). For the nongenotype-guided dose algorithm, the mean absolute error was 0.62 mg/day and the mean squared error was 0.63 (mg/day)(2). CONCLUSION: The EU-PACT acenocoumarol algorithm performs just as accurately in this study as in the original study, which implies applicability in various populations.

Proton pump inhibitors and the risk of overanticoagulation during acenocoumarol maintenance treatment.

In the Netherlands, several reports have described a potentiation of acenocoumarol-induced anticoagulation by co-medication of omeprazole or esomeprazole and competitive inhibition of CYP2C19 has been suggested as a possible mechanism for this interaction. We conducted an observational cohort study to investigate the effects of various proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on acenocoumarol effectiveness. All 2755 subjects from the Rotterdam Study who received acenocoumarol maintenance treatment between April 1st, 1991 and September 9th, 2009 were followed for events of an international normalized ratio (INR)≥6, until death, end of treatment, or end of the study period. The Andersen-Gill extension of the Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate risks for repeated events of overanticoagulation in relation to concomitant PPI use. The risk for overanticoagulation was most pronounced for esomeprazole (HR 1·99, 95% CI 1·55-2·55) and lansoprazole (HR 1·49, 95% CI 1·05-2·10). There was also a lower and non-significant risk increase for the other PPIs. We did not detect a modification of these results by CYP2C19*2 genotype. Caution should be paid to co-medication with esomeprazole and lansoprazole during acenocoumarol treatment and possibly also with other PPIs.

Dependency of phenprocoumon dosage on polymorphisms in the VKORC1, CYP2C9, and CYP4F2 genes.

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on warfarin and acenocoumarol showed that interindividual dosage variation is mainly associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VKORC1 and to a lesser extent in CYP2C9 and CYP4F2. For phenprocoumon dosage, the genes encoding CYP3A4 and ApoE might play a role. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between common genetic variants within VKORC1, CYP2C9, CYP4F2, CYP3A4, and ApoE and phenprocoumon maintenance dosage, and to identify novel signals using GWAS. METHODS: We selected all participants from the Rotterdam study who were treated with phenprocoumon. For each SNP, we tested the association between the above-mentioned genotypes and age, sex, body mass index, and target INR adjusted-phenprocoumon maintenance dosage. RESULTS: Within our study population (N=244), VKORC1, CYP2C9, CYP4F2 genotypes together explained 46% of phenprocoumon maintenance dosage variation. Each additional VKORC1 variant allele reduced phenprocoumon maintenance dosage by 4.8 mg/week (P<0.0001) and each additional CYP2C9 variant allele by 2.2 mg/week (P=0.002). Each additional variant allele of CYP4F2 increased phenprocoumon dosage by 1.5 mg/week (P=0.022). Variant alleles of CYP3A41*B and ApoE showed no association with phenprocoumon dosage. Genome-wide significant SNPs were all related to VKORC1 activity. Best associated were two SNPs in complete linkage disequilibrium with each other and with SNPs within VKORC1: rs10871454 [Syntaxin 4A (STX4A)] and rs11150604 (ZNF646), each with a P value of 2.1×10⁻²². Each reduced phenprocoumon maintenance dosage weekly by 4.9 mg per variant allele. CONCLUSION: Similar to earlier findings with warfarin and acenocoumarol, phenprocoumon maintenance dosage depended on polymorphisms in the VKORC1 gene. CYP2C9 and CYP4F2 were of modest relevance.