Aims: To determine the frequencies of the major arylamine- N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT2) alleles in the Thai population.
Methods: DNA samples from 235 Thai individuals were analysed by polymerase chain reaction with restriction fragment length polymorphism assays.
Results: The frequency distribution of major NAT2 alleles, including NAT2*4, NAT2*5, NAT2*6 and NAT2*7 were 0.381 (95% CI 0.337, 0.426), 0.038 (0.023, 0.060), 0.326 (0.283, 0.370) and 0.204 (0.169, 0.244), respectively. When converted to phenotypes, the study population comprised 63.8% rapid acetylators and 36.2% slow acetylators.
Conclusions: The pattern of NAT2 alleles of Thais is similar to those of many Asian populations, although the frequency of NAT2*4 is significantly lower and NAT2*7 is higher than that of Oriental populations.