WVUs Dr. Vincent Setola talks opioid addiction genetics on WBOY newscast

http://www.wvalways.com/clip/13591440/wvu-opioid-study

A new study being conducted in Morgantown is working to increase the effectiveness of addiction treatment, since as many as 20 percent of people addicted to opioids will not respond to the standard treatment of suboxone.

“There are different variations in genes that different people carry around,” said Dr. Vince Setola, Assistant Professor at WVU’s Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. “There are certain flavors if you will of genes that people have and some of those flavors cause them to be slow metabolizers of a particular drug or some of those flavors cause them to be rapid metabolizers of a particular drug.”

Right now the study is recruiting patients from WVU Medicine’s Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment (COAT) program to begin testing.