Table 1.
Resistance | Variability |
---|---|
(i) is usually triggered by drug exposure, slowly reversible, and often drug specific | (i) not induced by and often independent of the drug, can affect different drugs, and does not revert upon withdrawal |
| |
(ii) implies a change of the drug target making it inaccessible or no longer inhibitable | (ii) the drug target is not necessarily modified or inaccessible |
| |
(iii) detectable by specific laboratory tests, which impact on the clinical decision of changing drug | (iii) laboratory tests are of little help in therapeutic decisions if mechanism(s) are unknown (change drug, increase dose, more frequent intake?) |