Genetic analysis of N-acetyltransferase polymorphism in a Chinese population.
AIM
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.


CONCLUSION
The lower frequency of mutant M1 allele compared with that of Caucasians explains the low frequency of slow acylators in Chinese.