Genetic Differences in Propofol Pharmacodynamics in Children

Overview

Propofol is an extensively utilized intravenous sedative and general anesthetic. However, propofol has a narrow therapeutic index, and this means that there is only a small difference in the dose required to produce loss of consciousness and the dose required to produce potentially life-threatening effects such as loss of protective airway reflexes and cessation of spontaneous breathing. Moreover, there is substantial variation between individuals in the doses required to achieve these pharmacodynamic endpoints. Given the inexorable rise in demand for pediatric sedation and the increasing use of propofol in sedation protocols by non-anaesthesiologists, the purpose of this study is to refine the propofol dosing recommendations to account for pharmacogenomic variability to make procedural sedation safer for children. Experienced users already adjust for age and body weight. This study may enable further refinements according to sex and - novelly - ancestry.

Hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that examination of genome-wide association study (GWAS) findings will enable the investigators to provide pharmacogenomic insights into clinically observed - and, with this study, quantified - differences in propofol requirements for loss of consciousness (LOC) and apnea in children. It is further hypothesized that the distribution of allelic variants in these pharmacogenes may differ between children of different genomic ancestry. Objectives: Primary: (i) To describe and quantify doses of propofol required to produce loss of consciousness and apnea in children of differing ages, sex and self-identified countries of origin. (ii) To identify genomic associations that may explain variability, and generate hypotheses for further study. (iii) To identify genomic ancestry and examine how pharmacogene allele variants that may explain the findings of (i) above are distributed across genomic ancestries. Secondary: To examine the correlation between self-identified countries of family origin and genomic ancestry. Methods: Prospective, non-randomized, single cohort study of two pharmacodynamic endpoints (loss of consciousness and apnea), in children requiring propofol anesthesia, with subsequent genome-wide association study (GWAS) and principal component analysis (PCA) to examine, respectively, pharmacogenomic explanations for pharmacodynamic variability and genomic ancestry.