CYP2D6 and NAT2 Polymorphism in HBV Associated in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients in Korea

Shin, Dong Ill; Lee, Kyeong Geun; Lee, Kwang Soo; Cho, Youl Hee

Abstract

PURPOSE: CYP2D6 and N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) are polymorphic enzymes which are expressed in the hepatocyte in a genotype-determined manner. They are known to be involved in the inactivation and activation of various mutagens and carcinogens, respectively. The activities of the two enzyme systems are associated with the genetic susceptibility of many human cancers.
METHODS
This study was performed to determine the genotype frequencies of the two enzyme systems in primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients and healthy controls. One hundred healthy controls and 55 liver cancer patients were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
RESULTS
In the healthy controls, the CYP2D6 wild type allele frequency was 0.985 and the CYP2D6*4 frequency was 0.015. No CYP2D6 poor-metabolizer was detected. No significant differences were found in the hepatocellular carcinoma patients group. Among the controls, the frequencies of F, S1, S2 and S3 alleles of the NAT2 system were 0.725, 0.01, 0.14 and 0.125, respectively. The genotype frequencies were found to be 0.91 for the rapid acetylator and 0.09 for the slow acetylator. No significant differences were found in the hepatocellular carcinoma group.
CONCLUSION
The distribution of CYP2D6 and NAT2 polymorphism is very unique in the Korean population, as characterized by the extremely low frequency of CYP2D6 poor-metabolizer and NAT2 slow acetylator. CYP2D6 and NAT2 polymorphisms did not seem to play an important role in the hepatic carcinogenesis in the Korean population.