Acetylator status and N-acetyltransferase 2 gene polymorphisms; phenotype–genotype correlation with the sulfamethazine test

N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) catalyzes the bioactivation andor detoxification of drugs and carcinogens. The aim of this study was to establish the correlation between the NAT2genotype and the acetylating phenotype in a Mexican population using sulfamethazine as a probe. From a total of 122 individuals, 73 (59.8) were slow and 49 (40.2) were fast acetylators. Eleven individuals (9) had the wild-type genotype (NAT24NAT24). The most frequent genotype was NAT24NAT25Bobserved in 20.66 of individuals. In conclusion, our results show that an accurate prediction of the acetylation phenotype by genotyping can be achieved in around half of the population. Further studies with a larger number of individuals are required to establish correlations between phenotype and genotype in half of that patients having a genotype combined with slowrapid alleles.