Genetic polymorphisms and linkage disequilibrium of sulfotransferase SULT1A1 and SULT1A2 in a Korean population: comparison of other ethnic groups.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the allele frequencies of sulfotransferases (SULTs) 1A1 and 1A2 and their linkage disequilibrium in a Korean population and compare them with those of other ethnic groups.


METHODS
Genotypes of the SULT1A1*1, *2, and *3 and SULT1A2*1, *2, and *3 allelic variants were determined in 234 Korean subjects using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods.


RESULTS
Allele frequencies for SULT1A1*1 and *2 were 0.876 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.843-0.905] and 0.124 (95% CI, 0.096-0.157), respectively. Similarly, those for SULT1A2*1 and *2 were 0.885 (95% CI, 0.852-0.912) and 0.115 (95% CI, 0.088-0.150), respectively. However, no subject with SULT1A1*3 or SULT1A2*3 was detected. These genotype distributions are similar to those of Asian populations including the Chinese and Japanese, but quite different from other ethnic groups such as African-Americans and Caucasians. The expected allelic frequencies of SULT1A1 and SULT1A2 at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are quite similar to the observed distributions in the population. SULT1A1*2 and SULT1A2*2, the most common variant alleles of these two genes, are strongly and positively linked in the Korean population (D' = 0.8919, chi2 = 343.24, P = 0.0034).


CONCLUSIONS
SULT1A1*2 and SULT1A2*2 are the major allelic variants in the Korean population, whereas the SULT1A1*3 and SULT1A2*3 alleles were not found. SULT1A1*2 and SULT1A2*2 are strongly linked.
Kim
Kyoung-Ah
KA
Department of Pharmacology, Gil Medical Center, Gachon Medical School, 1198 Kuwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, 405-760, Korea.
Lee
Sook-Young
SY
Park
Pil-Whan
PW
Ha
Jong-Myung
JM
Park
Ji-Young
JY
D015239:Arylsulfotransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
D015239:Arylsulfotransferase; C117544:SULT1A1 protein, human; C513290:SULT1A2 protein, human