A comparison of glutathione S-transferase mutant frequencies in healthy Han and Uygur Chinese

OBJECTIVE: This study was to compare the frequencies of genetic polymorphisms of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 in Uygur Chinese with those in Han Chinese. METHODS: GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms were analyzed by a PCR-Multiplex procedure, whereas GSTP1 polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: The frequency of GSTM1 null genotype in Han Chinese (56.1%) was similar to that in Uygur Chinese (53.2%) (P = 0.592), whilst the frequency of GSTT1 null genotype in Han Chinese (50.0%) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of Uygur Chinese (26.6%). GSTP1 had a genotype distribution of 60.7% I/I, 35.2% I/V and 4.1% V/V in Han Chinese, and 51.3% I/I, 40.2% I/V and 8.4% V/V in Uygur Chinese. CONCLUSION: There is marked ethnic difference in the mutant frequencies of GSTT1 and GSTP1, but not GSTM1, between Uygur and Han Chinese