It is intended to provide a method of anticipating the response to a ß-blocker drug based on a gene polymorphism of a subject. A large number of genes seemingly relating to heart functions or ß1-receptor functions are extracted and the correlations between individual polymorphisms occurring in these genes and responses to ß-blocker drugs are comprehensively analyzed. As a result, a plural number of gene polymorphisms useful in anticipating the responses to ß-blocker drugs are found out. Moreover, it is clarified that the responses to ß-blocker drugs can be anticipated at a high accuracy by using these gene polymorphisms. The technique as described above is useful in treating heart failure with the use of ß-blocker drugs, examinations and diagnosis in the ß-blocker drug therapy for improving other heart functions and so on.
