Genetic analysis of the CYP2D6 locus in a Hong Kong Chinese population

Background: The cytochrome P450 CYP2D6 enzyme debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase me tabolizes many different classes of commonly used drugs, such as tricyclic antidepressants and neuroleptics, Genetic polymorphism of the CYP2D6 gene i s responsible for pronounced interindividual and interracial differences in the metabolism of these drugs. The CYP2D6*10 allele and its variants are t he most frequent alleles found in Orientals, and they are responsible for d iminished debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase activity because of the presence of a C-188-->T mutation in exon 1, Methods: One hundred nineteen Hong Kong Chinese subjects were genotyped by means of allele-specific PCR, PCR, and restriction enzyme analysis for 10 C YP2D6 alleles (CYP2D6*1, *2, *4D, *5, *8/*14, *10A, *10B, *15, *16, and J9) , Results: CYP2D6*10B was the most prevalent allele, and CYP2D6*10/CYP2D6*10 was the most frequent genotype, representing 46.22% of the population. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the prevalence of the a lleles analyzed between our study and the Chinese populations genotyped pre viously This is the largest study in terms of the number of CYP2D6 alleles analyzed in an Oriental population and the first one conducted in a Hong Ko ng Chinese population. (C) 2000 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.