High prevalence of CYP2D6*41 (G2988A) allele in Saudi Arabians

• Allele and genotype frequencies of major CYP2D6 polymorphisms were investigated in Saudi Arabians by direct sequencing.
• The allelic frequency of CYP2D6*41 was found to be 18.4%, and that of CYP2D6*29 to be 2.9%.
• The other investigated poor metabolizer alleles were either not detected or rarely present in the study population.
• In addition, two commonly shared, among CYP2D6 alleles, SNPs and two very rare CYP2D6 SNPs have been detected.
• Further studies are required to evaluate the metabolic and clinical relevance of CYP2D6*41 in Saudi Arabians.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate CYP2D6 genetic polymorphism in a Saudi Arabian population by determining the frequencies of CYP2D6*41, CYP2D6*29, CYP2D6*3, CYP2D6*6 and CYP2D6*14 alleles. Genomic DNA was isolated from 192 healthy Saudis representing different geographical regions, and genotyping of the selected CYP2D6 variants was carried out by direct sequencing. The allelic frequency of CYP2D6*41 was found to be 18.4%, and that of CYP2D6*29 to be 2.9%. The other investigated alleles were either not detected or rarely present in the study population. In addition, two commonly shared single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two very rare SNPs among CYP2D6 alleles were detected. Further studies are therefore, required to evaluate the metabolic and clinical relevance of CYP2D6*41 in Saudi Arabians.