PHARMACOGENETIC STUDY OF THE ACETYLATION PHENOTYPE IN A BULGARIAN POPULATION

Abstract

N-acetyltransferase, an enzyme involved in the metabolic inactivation of drugs like isoniazide, some sulfonamides and others is well-known to he under polymorphic genetic control. The acetylation phenotype of the patients may serve as an important guide in foretelling the therapeutic efficacy or tolerahility of a particular drug. In the present study we investigated the distribution of the acetylaiion phenotypes in a group of 100 healthy volunteers of both sexes using sulfadimidine as a substrate. The distribution was found to follow a bimodal pattern, as aspected, with a slight predominance of the "slow" acetylators - in 58 % of the cases, a finding similar to literature data from neighbouring and other European countries. In the men's group the distribution was approximately the same as that in the whole group whilst in the women's one the "rapid" inactivators prevailed. This work represents the first modest attempt in Bulgaria for phenotyping the population according to the individual acetylaiion status.