Glutamate-pyruvate transaminase subtypes in Singapore ethnic groups.

Autopsy liver samples from 244 Chinese, 119 Malays and 136 Indians were screened for glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) subtypes by starch-gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing at pH 5-7. Altogether, ten phenotypes controlled by four alleles (GPT1, GPT2A, GPT2B and GPT3) were identified. There was no significant difference in the frequency of GPT alleles between the ethnic groups. The distribution of GPT types was in agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in all the ethnic groups.