Evidence for the polymorphic oxidation of debrisoquine and proguanil in a Khmer (Cambodian) population.

Abstract

The frequency distributions of the urinary metabolic ratios of debrisoquine and proguanil were measured in a population of unrelated Khmers. Out of 98 Khmer subjects studied, two were identified as poor metabolisers of debrisoquine when a metabolic ratio of 12.6 was used as the cut off point. This represents a prevalence of debrisoquine poor metabolisers of 2.1% (95% confidence interval 0.25‐7.3%) which is similar to other Asian populations. Based on the distribution of the ratio of proguanil to cycloguanil excreted in urine, and using an antimode value of 10, the prevalence of poor metabolisers of proguanil in a Khmer population was estimated to be 18.4% (95% confidence interval 10.9‐28.1%). The frequency of poor metabolisers of proguanil in Khmers was higher than that described for Caucasian populations, but similar to most reported results in Asian populations.