Determination and allelic allocation of seven nucleotide transitions within the arylamine N-acetyltransferase gene in the Polish population

The frequency of various genotypes of arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) was investigated in 248 Polish unrelated children. Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied for mutation at 341 nucleotide (nt) of NAT2 coding sequence and PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism for the other mutations. Genotypes coded for slow acetylation in 62.9% (56.6% to 68.9%). The frequency of specific NAT2 alleles was *4(wild-type), 22.0%, *5A(341C, 481T), 5.2%; *5B(341C, 481T, 803G), 33.1%; *5C(341C, 803G), 6.0%; *6A(282T, 590A), 30.0%; *7B(282T, 857A), 3.4%; and *12A(803G), 0.2%. No mutations were found at 191, 434, and 845 nt. By a molecular-genetic procedure, genotypes *4/*6A were confirmed not to mask *6B/*13(590A/282T). *6B and *13 were absent in a composite sample representative of 826 alleles (95% confidence limits, 0% to 0.45%). Five cases of genotype-phenotype discrepancy were sequenced and their mutation allocation confirmed; 21 further genotypes were confirmed by sequencing. This first evaluation of NAT2 genes among a Slavic population should provide a basis for clinical and epidemiologic investigations of NAT2 in the Polish population.