Drug Toxicity: Risk factors

Adverse drug reactions, or ADRs, depend on various factors. These include age, gender, drug regimen, therapy duration, comorbidities, genetic makeup, therapeutic index, and ethnicity.

Neonates and the elderly are the most vulnerable due to their immature or diminished liver and kidney function.

Females are at a higher risk of toxicity due to variations in pharmacokinetics, immune responses, and hormones.

Additionally, taking multiple prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, or natural products increases drug-drug interactions and toxicity risk.

Congestive heart failure, hepatitis, or obesity can alter how a patient metabolizes drugs, leading to increased drug accumulation and toxicity.

Drugs with a narrow therapeutic index require consistent dose monitoring to prevent ADRs

Genetic variations in drug-metabolizing enzymes, transporters, and drug targets can cause minimal to severe ADRs.

For example, if given antiarrhythmics, 1–2% people with mutations for genes encoding cardiac ion channels may experience long-QT syndrome, leading to cardiac arrest.