DISTRIBUTION OF ALPHA-1-ANTITRYPSIN PHENOTYPES IN JAPANESE - DESCRIPTION OF PI-M-SUBTYPES BY ISOELECTRIC-FOCUSING

Serum α1 phenotypes were determined by polyacrylamide gel slab isoelectric focusing in a sample from 1,271 unrelated healthy Japanese living in Tokyo. Three common Pi M subtypes (M1M1, M1M2 and M2M2) were found, and the allele frequencies estimated (PiM1=0.83, PiM2=0.17) were found to be similar to those observed in the European populations. A large χ2 value, however, may indicate the presence of further microheterogeneity among Pi M subtypes. In contrast with Pi M subtypes, rare variants were found only in 0.55% of the samples examined, and no Z gene was detected. A new fast variant of α1 named Pi ETokyo is reported. © 1979 Business Center for Academic Societies.