Alpha-1-antitrypsin phenotypes in Saudi Arabia: a study in the central province

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 204 plasma samples obtained from Saudis living in the central province of Saudi Arabia, to determine the prevalence of alpha- 1-antitrypsin [alpha 1AT] phenotypes. The alpha 1AT phenotypes were separated by isoelectric focusing on ampholine gels [pH 4-5]. The prevalences of PiMM, MS, MZ, SZ, and ZZ were 0.8676, 0.0931, 0.0245, 0.0098, and 0.0049, respectively. The gene frequencies of the alpha 1AT variants, i.e., PiM, PiS and PiZ, were 0.9265, 0.0515, and 0.022, respectively. We describe and compare our results in a Saudi population with those reported for other populations