Genetic analysis of N-acetyltransferase polymorphism in a Chinese population.
OBJECTIVE
To study the genetic basis of N-acetylatransferase polymorphism in Chinese.


METHODS
Genotypes in 120 healthy Han volunteers from 19 provinces of China were assayed. The 3 common mutant alleles (M1, M2, M3) and one normal wild-type (WT) allele of the N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) gene were detected by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction technique.


RESULTS
The NAT2 allele frequencies in 120 Chinese (WT = 0.625, M1 = 0.0458, M2 = 0.188, M3 = 0.142) were different (P < 0.01). The NAT2 genotype distribution for all detected combinations of NAT2 alleles in 120 Chinese subjects was consisitent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (chi 2 = 7.27, nu = 8, 0.7 > P > 0.5). Fifty subjects (41.7%) were homozygous wildtypes, 50 subjects (41.7%) were heterozygous mutants, and 20 subjects (16.7%) were homozygous mutants.


CONCLUSIONS
The lower frequency of mutant M1 allele compared with that of Caucasians explains the low frequency of slow acylators in Chinese.
Lu
J F
JF
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, China. lujianfn@public1.ptt.js.cn
Cao
X M
XM
Liu
Z H
ZH
Cao
W
W
Guo
L Q
LQ
Zhuo
H T
HT
Ling
S S
SS
Chen
Y L
YL
Zhao
Q
Q
Wang
W P
WP
Li
F Q
FQ
D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D000123:Acetyltransferases