Abstract

Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) is an important member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes because of its involvement in the metabolism of some carcinogens and therapeutically important drugs. As a result, factors affecting the activity of the enzyme are the focus of considerable research effort as they may have important pharmacological or toxicological implications. CYP1A2 has been shown to exhibit a genetic polymorphism with most of the data, however, coming from studies in Caucasian and Oriental populations. In this study therefore, we investigated the frequencies of two point mutations, –163C > A and 63C > G, in two Bantu African populations. A total of 214 healthy subjects were recruited from Zimbabwe (n = 143) and Tanzania (n = 71). The two single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The frequency of –163A was 57% (95% confidence interval (CI), 54%, 60%) and 49% (95% CI, 45%, 53%) among Zimbabweans and Tanzanians, respectively, but the difference between the two populations was not statistically significant (p = 0.123). The base change 63C > G was not found in any of the subjects from the two populations. We report here a high frequency of –163C > A base change and an absence of the 63C > G change in the two African populations.