Frequency of glutathione-S-transferase null-M1 and null-T1 genotypes among the Turabah population in Saudi Arabia.

Glutathione-S-transferases (GST) are key phase II detoxifying enzymes that play critical roles in protection against products of oxidative stress and against electrophiles. Glutathione S-transferase mu (GST-M1) and theta (GST-T1) are isoforms of glutathione transferase enzymes that participate in the metabolism of a wide range of chemicals. Deletion variants that are associated with a lack of enzyme function exist at both these loci. The frequencies of homozygous GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletion carriers are very high in most of the populations studied to date. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes among the Turabah population in Saudi Arabia in comparison with the data published for some other Arabic populations. The subjects consisted of 164 unrelated healthy individuals from the Turabah population. GST genotyping was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction-based methods. The GSTM1 deletion homozygosity was 56.1% and GSTT1 deletion homozygosity was 20.7%, while the GSTM1 and GSTT1 double-deletion homozygosity was 11.0%. Comparison with published data from Bahraini, Lebanese, and Tunisian populations demonstrated no significant difference for GSTM1 between these populations. The GSTT1 null-allele frequency was significantly lower than those for the Lebanese and Tunisian populations (P = 0.001) but similar to that for the Bahraini population (P = 0.099). Characterization of GST genetic polymorphisms in the Saudi population may aid in genetic studies on the association of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms with disease risks and the pharmacogenetics of chemotherapy.

Distribution of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase mutations in Southeast Asia.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is a heterogeneous enzyme abnormality with high frequency in tropical areas. We performed population screening and molecular studies of G6PD variants to clarify their distribution and features in Southeast Asia. A total of 4317 participants (2019 males, 2298 females) from 16 ethnic groups in Myanmar, Lao in Laos, and Amboinese in Indonesia were screened with a single-step screening method. The prevalence of G6PD-deficient males ranged from 0% (the Akha) to 10.8% (the Shan). These G6PD-deficient individuals and 12 G6PD-deficient patients who had been diagnosed at hospitals in Indonesia and Malaysia were subjected to molecular analysis by a combination of polymerase-chain-reaction-based single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing. Ten different missense mutations were identified in 63 G6PD-deficient individuals (50 hemizygotes, 11 heterozygotes, and 2 homozygotes) from 14 ethnic groups. One missense mutation (1291 G-->A) found in an Indonesian Chinese, viz., G6PD Surabaya, was previously unknown. The 487 G-->A (G6PD Mahidol) mutation was widely seen in Myanmar, 383 T-->C (G6PD Vanua Lava) was specifically found among Amboinese, 871 G-->A (G6PD Viangchan) was observed mainly in Lao, and 592 C-->T (G6PD Coimbra) was found in Malaysian aborigines (Orang Asli). The other five mutations, 95 A-->G (G6PD Gaohe), 1003 G-->A (G6PD Chatham), 1360 C-->T (G6PD Union), 1376 G-->T (G6PD Canton), and 1388 G-->A (G6PD Kaiping) were identified mostly in accordance with distributions reported previously.