Behind the paper: Stepping up to the antiplatelet.

The article reports on the research conducted by Nicolas von Beckerath and Dirk Taubert to assess factors why the drug clopidogrel for some individuals in Cologne, Germany. They found that polymorphisms in gene encoding of cytochrome P450 enzyme is the cause why some have lower plasma levels and at risk of heart disease. Taubert discovered that cytochrome P450 enzymes are needed in the breakdown of the drug to intermediate metabolite, but esterase transformed it to its active state.