Effect of CYP2C19 and ABCB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms on outcomes of treatment with ticagrelor versus clopidogrel for acute coronary syndromes: a genetic substudy of the PLATO trial

Background In the PLATO trial of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel for treatment of acute coronary syndromes, ticagrelor reduced the composite outcome of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, but increased events of major bleeding related to non-coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). CYP2C19 and ABCB1 genotypes are known to influence the effects of clopidogrel. In this substudy, we investigated the effects of these genotypes on outcomes between and within treatment groups. Methods DNA samples obtained from patients in the PLATO trial were genotyped for CYP2C19 loss-of-function alleles (*2, *3, *4, *5, *6, *7, and *8), the CYP2C19 gain-of-function allele *17, and the ABCB1 single nucleotide polymorphism 3435C -> T. For the CYP2C19 genotype, patients were stratified by the presence or absence of any loss-of-function allele, and for the ABCB1 genotype, patients were stratified by predicted gene expression (high, intermediate, or low). The primary efficacy endpoint was the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke after up to 12 months' treatment with ticagrelor or clopidogrel. Findings 10 285 patients provided samples for genetic analysis. The primary outcome occurred less often with ticagrelor versus clopidogrel, irrespective of CYP2C19 genotype: 8.6% versus 11.2% (hazard ratio 0.77, 95% CI 0.60-0.99, p=0.0380) in patients with any loss-of-function allele; and 8.8% versus 10.0% (0.86, 0.74-1.01, p=0.0608) in those without any loss-of-function allele (interaction p=0.46). For the ABCB1 genotype, event rates for the primary outcome were also consistently lower in the ticagrelor than in the clopidogrel group for all genotype groups (interaction p=0.39; 8.8% vs 11.9%; 0.71, 0.55-0.92 for the high-expression genotype). In the clopidogrel group, the event rate at 30 days was higher in patients with than in those without any loss-of-function CYP2C19 alleles (5.7% vs 3.8%, p=0.028), leading to earlier separation of event rates between treatment groups in patients with loss-of-function alleles. Patients on clopidogrel who had any gain-of-function CYP2C19 allele had a higher frequency of major bleeding (11.9%) than did those without any gain-of-function or loss-of-function alleles (9.5%; p=0.022), but interaction between treatment and genotype groups was not significant for any type of major bleeding. Interpretation Ticagrelor is a more efficacious treatment for acute coronary syndromes than is dopidogrel, irrespective of CYP2C19 and ABCB1 polymorphisms. Use of ticagrelor instead of clopidogrel eliminates the need for presently recommended genetic testing before dual antiplatelet treatment.