Background: Genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19 has been shown to affect enzyme activity and thereby contribute to inter-individual variability in drug metabolism and response. The complete genetic variation of CYP2C19 in Vietnam still remains obscure even though data of common alleles in Vietnamese Kinh have been reported.Aim: To establish the extent of CYP2C19 polymorphism in Vietnamese.Subjects and methods: The promoter and all nine exons of CYP2C19 in 100 healthy unrelated Vietnamese Kinh subjects were sequenced. Additionally, the CYP2C19 variants, *2, *3 and *17 were analysed by RFLP-PCR in 275 subjects of four minor ethnic groups in Vietnam (Tay, Muong, H'Mong and Nung).Results: In 100 Kinh subjects, the percentages of CYP2C19*1, CYP2C19*2, CYP2C19*3 and CYP2C19*17 alleles were 76%, 20.5%, 2.5% and 1%, respectively. Three novel variants in introns 2, 5 and 8 had no impact on mRNA splicing according to the Human Splicing Finder. The prevalence of CYP2C19*17 in Vietnamese Kinh was significantly lower compared with figures found in Western Asia and Europe, while CYP2C19*2 frequency was statistically higher than that in Western Asia and several countries in Europe. The frequency of CYP2C19*2 in Kinh was significantly lower than in the other four ethnic minorities.Conclusion: These results provide information on CYP2C19 polymorphism in the Vietnamese population, which could be useful for optimising drug therapies and precision medicine studies.
Keywords: Cytochrome P450; drug metabolism; personalised medicine; pharmacogenetics; polymorphism.