Contrasting exome constancy and regulatory region variation in the gene encoding CYP3A4: an examination of the extent and potential implications

Allele and genotype frequencies of CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP3A7, and GSTP1 gene polymorphisms among mainland Tibetan, Mongolian, Uyghur, and Han Chinese populations

Over 50% prescribed drugs are metabolised by cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) and glutathione S-transferase pi (GSTP1) adds a glutathione to the oxidative products by CYP3A, which increases the hydrophilic property of metabolites and facilitates the excretion. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CYP3A and GSTP1 show a diverse allele and genotype frequencies distribution among the world populations. The present study aimed to investigate the genotype and allele frequency distribution patterns of CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP3A7 and GSTP1 polymorphisms among healthy participants in mainland Tibetan, Mongolian, Uyghur, and Han Chinese populations. Blood samples were collected from 842 unrelated healthy subjects (323 Tibetan, 134 Mongolian, 162 Uyghur, and 223 Han) for genotyping analysis. Variant allele frequencies of CYP3A4 rs2242480, CYP3A5 rs776746, CYP3A7 rs2257401, and GSTP1 Ile105Val were observed in Han (0.253, 0.686, 0.312 and 0.188), Tibetan (0.186, 0.819, 0.192 and 0.173), Mongolian (0.198, 0.784, 0.228 and 0.235) and Uyghur (0.179, 0.858, 0.182 and 0.250) respectively. The allele frequency of CYP3A7*1C in Uyghur (0.019) was higher than that in Tibetan (0.002, p < 0.01). There was a strong linkage disequilibrium between CYP3A4 rs2242480, CYP3A5 rs776746, and CYP3A7 rs2257401 among the four ethnic groups. The results might be useful for the precise medication in the Chinese populations.

Evidence of the interplay of genetics and culture in Ethiopia

The rich linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity of Ethiopia provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand the level to which cultural factors correlate with-and shape-genetic structure in human populations. Using primarily new genetic variation data covering 1,214 Ethiopians representing 68 different ethnic groups, together with information on individuals' birthplaces, linguistic/religious practices and 31 cultural practices, we disentangle the effects of geographic distance, elevation, and social factors on the genetic structure of Ethiopians today. We provide evidence of associations between social behaviours and genetic differences among present-day peoples. We show that genetic similarity is broadly associated with linguistic affiliation, but also identify pronounced genetic similarity among groups from disparate language classifications that may in part be attributable to recent intermixing. We also illustrate how groups reporting the same culture traits are more genetically similar on average and show evidence of recent intermixing, suggesting that shared cultural traits may promote admixture. In addition to providing insights into the genetic structure and history of Ethiopia, we identify the most important cultural and geographic predictors of genetic differentiation and provide a resource for designing sampling protocols for future genetic studies involving Ethiopians.

Group-based pharmacogenetic prediction: is it feasible and do current NHS England ethnic classifications provide appropriate data?

Inter-individual variation of drug metabolising enzymes (DMEs) leads to variable efficacy of many drugs and even adverse drug responses. Consequently, it would be desirable to test variants of many DMEs before drug treatment. Inter-ethnic differences in frequency mean that the choice of SNPs to test may vary across population groups. Here we examine the utility of testing representative groups as a way of assessing what variants might be tested. We show that publicly available population information is potentially useful for determining loci for pre-treatment genetic testing, and for determining the most prevalent risk haplotypes in defined groups. However, we also show that the NHS England classifications have limitations for grouping for these purposes, in particular for people of African descent. We conclude: (1) genotyping of hospital patients and people from the hospital catchment area confers no advantage over using samples from appropriate existing ethnic group collections or publicly available data, (2) given the current NHS England Black African grouping, a decision as to whether to test, would have to apply to all patients of recent Black African ancestry to cover reported risk alleles and (3) the current scarcity of available genome and drug effect data from Africans is a problem for both testing and treatment decisions.