A rapid method of screening for N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) phenotype by use of the WAVE DNA fragment analysis system

N-Acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is involved in Phase II biotransformation of a variety of toxicants. Polymorphisms in the NAT2 gene result in a slow acetylator phenotype, which has been associated with various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. To date most studies investigating NAT2 genotype/phenotype have adopted an RFLP approach, which is both expensive and time-consuming. Using the Wave DNA fragment analysis system, we have developed a fast and robust method of identifying two polymorphisms (C282T and T341C) of the NAT2 gene which allows identification of the most common slow acetylator alleles found in Caucasian populations: NAT2*5, NAT2*6, NAT2*7, and NAT2*14. This was done by comparing phenotype status in 126 samples genotyped by RFLP analysis and also by Wave analysis for the polymorphisms C282Tand T341C. All 126 samples analyzed by both RFLP and Wave analysis gave consistent phenotype results and 100% correlation was achieved between the two methods.