ABSTRACT
The glutathione S transferase (GST) family of enzymes play a vital role in the phase II biotransformation of environmental carcinogens, pollutants, drugs and other xenobiotics. GSTs are polymorphic and the polymorphisms in GST genes have been associated with cancer susceptibility and prognosis. Moreover, distinct ethnic differences have been observed in the type and frequency of GST gene polymorphisms. Hence, the present study was aimed to determine the frequencies of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms in 255 healthy random volunteers from South India. The GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by PCR and GSTP1 by PCR-RFLP using peripheral blood DNA.The GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotype frequencies were found to be 22.4% and 17.6% respectively. The GSTP1 allelic frequency was 0.78 for the Ile allele and 0.22 for the Val allele and the genotype frequency was 58.4% for Ile/Ile, 38.4% for Ile/Val, and 3.1% for Val/Val. Comparison of the frequencies of GST polymorphisms observed in the present study with other Indian and world populations revealed a distinctive nature of the South Indian population with respect to polymorphims at the GST gene loci. A better understanding of carcinogen metabolizing gene distribution should contribute to risk assessment of humans exposed to environmental carcinogens.