Human arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) is known to catalyze the methylation of arsenite. The objective of this study was to investigate the diversity of the AS3MT gene at the global level. The distribution of 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in AS3MT was performed in 827 individuals from 10 populations (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Sinhalese, Nepal Tamangs, Ovambo, and Ghanaian). In the African populations, the A allele in A6144T was not observed; the allele frequencies of C35587 were much lower than those in other populations; the allele frequencies of A37616 and C37950 were relatively higher than those in other populations. Among Asian populations, Mongolians showed a different genotype distribution pattern. A lower C3963 and T6144 frequencies were observed, and, in the C37616A and T37950C polymorphism, the Mongolian population showed higher A37616 and C37950 allele frequencies than other Asian populations, similarly to the African populations. A total of 66 haplotypes were observed in the Ovambo, 48, in the Ghanaian, 99, in the Japanese, 103, in the Korean, 103, in the South Chinese, 20, in the Sri Lankan Tamil, 12, in the Sri Lankan Sinhalese, 21, in the Nepal Tamang, 50, in the Tibetan, and 45, in the Mongolian populations. The D' values between the SNP pairs were extremely high in the Sri Lankan Sinhalese population. Relatively higher D' values were observed in Mongolian and Sri Lankan Tamil populations. Network analysis showed two clusters that may have different origins, African and Asians (Chinese and/or Japanese). The present study is the first to demonstrate the existence of genetic heterogeneity in a world wide distribution of 18 SNPs in AS3MT.
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