RESUMO
Fifteen patients of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) were detected out of 2500 persons of Maheshwari community surveyed. These 15 patients belonged to 11 families. The prevalence of AIP in Maheshwari population came out to be 1:640 which is considerably higher than the figures reported from many other areas of our country. AIP was more common in females than males, the ratio being 9:6. Maximum number of cases (6) were encountered in the age group of 11-20 years. AIP was observed to be inherited as an autosomal dominant disease in 3 families. Spontaneous mutation of gene may be considered to be the mode of inheritance in the remaining 8 families. The disease was found to be more common in Daga and Tapadia subcastes. There were 5 cases belonging to Daga subcaste and 3 belonging to Tapadia subcaste.