THE STUDY ON HEREDITARY POLYMORPHISM OF
THIOPURINE S-METHYLTRANSFERASE IN CHINESE HAN POPULATION OF SHANGHAI AREA
Ye Q-D, Gu L-J, Liang A-B, Zhao J-C,
Xue H-L, Chen J
Shanghai
Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai, China
Objective: The red blood cell (RBC)
thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) activity showed hereditary polymorphism
and had interethnic variability. The document about the TPMT activity in
Chinese Han population of mainland was scanty. We investigated to recognize
the hereditary polymorphism of TPMT activity in Chinese Han population of
Shanghai area.
Methods: We measured the erythrocyte TPMT
activity in 320 healthy Chinese volunteers and 51 children patients with
ALL by means of radiochemical assay.
Results: The TPMT activity distribution
in Han population was normal, ranging from 4.32 to 32.33U/ml pRBCs. The
mean value was 16.65±4.69U/ml
pRBCs (Man 16.52±4.44U/ml
pRBCs, Woman 16.77±4.96 U/ml pRBCs). 8.1 percents of the sample had activities lower than 10
U/ml pRBCs. There was no difference between healthy volunteers and patients
and among the different ages about the TPMT activity.
Conclusion: These data indicated that
there were no differences of TPMT activity in gender, age, and between
healthy volunteers and patients with ALL. TPMT activity in Han population
was lower than that of white subjects and was higher than black subjects.