N-acetyltransferase genotypes in the Portuguese population

Fast and slow acetylator phenotypes differ in their respective frequencies among different populations. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragme nt length polymorphism based genotyping assay was used to determine the fre quency of the most important NAT2 polymorphisms in a group of 128 Portugues e individuals. The results showed that slow acetylators represented 64.1% o f the group, and the frequencies of NAT2*4, *5A, *5B, *5C, *6 and *7 allele s were 0.211, 0.031, 0.379, 0.023, 0.328 and 0.027, respectively. These val ues are similar to those presented in other studies in Caucasians, The data obtained may be useful in epidemiological studies of the influence of acet ylator polymorphisms on carcinogenesis or other environmental caused diseas es. Pharmacogenetics 8:561-564. (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.