title: Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase activity in a Korean population.
abstract: Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the major metabolic enzyme in the catabolism of 5-fluorouracil, and the activity in normal tissues shows a wide variation among individuals. Recent studies demonstrate the relevance of DPD in the pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and antitumor efficacy of 5-fluorouracil. We investigated the DPD activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cell form 114 healthy subjects in Korea. The DPD activities in healthy volunteers were shown to follow a unimodal distribution. The mean of the activity was 0.28 +/- 0.16 nmol/min/mg protein. A wide (13-fold) intersubject variability was observed (range, 0.06-0.80 nmol/min/mg protein), and, on average, DPD activity in women (0.26 +/- 0.14) was 13% lower than in men (0.30 +/- 0.16). These findings indicate that the activity of DPD in this study was higher than in reports of research with French and white American populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Chonan, Korea.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000494:pharmacology; D044466:Asian People; D042943:Dihydrouracil Dehydrogenase (NADP); D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000097:blood* / Q000187:drug effects; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D042943:Dihydrouracil Dehydrogenase (NADP); D005472:Fluorouracil