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.