High prevalence of ultrarapid metabolizers in a mestizo Colombian population in relation to Hispanic mestizo populations.

Interethnic differences in allele frequency have been demonstrated across Latin-American countries. Only one previous study describing genotypes in Colombian population has been performed. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability in a mestizo Colombian population, as well as the similarities and differences concerning other Hispanic mestizo (HM) populations. Two hundred and twelve unrelated healthy Colombian subjects were studied, in which different polymorphisms were analyzed by extra long-PCR and real-time PCR. A high percentage of ultrarapid metabolizers (18.4%) was found, representing the highest frequency calculated within the HM populations studied. However, the percentage of poor metabolizers (4.7%) was similar to those previously reported in HM populations.